Richard F. Ashman • LITFL • Eponym library

Richard F. Ashman (1890-1970) was an American physiologist.

Ashman published innovative works in the development of clinical electrocardiography, heart muscle conduction, and pulse wave velocity. His hallmark publication in the development of clinical electrocardiography was Essentials of Electrocardiography (1937) with Edgar Hull.

He is eponymously affiliated with Ashman phenomenon (1947), which describes aberrant ventricular conducted beats following a long refractory period as determined by the preceding R-R interval.

Ashman was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; and member of the American Physiological Society, and Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine.

Richard Ashman was also a Poet, publishing in various magazines such as the Prairie Schooner, and helped establish The New Orleans Poetry Journal in the 1950’s

Biography

Born August 13, 1890 Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, USA
1915 – Bachelor of Literature, Rutgers College of New Jersey
1916-17 – Assistant in zoology, Rutgers College
1917-18 – Assistant in Physiology, University of Illinois
1918-24 – Relocated to New Orleans, and was an Instructor at Tulane University
1920 – Master of Arts, Tulane University
1924-30 – Assistant Professor of Physiology, Tulane University
1925 – PhD in Physiology, Tulane University
1930-31 – Assistant Professor of Physiology, Vanderbilt University
1931 – Faculty member in the Department of Physiology, Louisiana State University (LSU)
1932 – Appointed Head of the Department of Physiology, LSU School of Medicine
1932 – Director of the Heart Station, Charity Hospital
1951 – Retired, and went on to publish The New Orleans Poetry Journal
Died February 28, 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana

Medical Eponyms

Ashman phenomenon (1947) – aberrant ventricular conducted beats, usually of RBBB morphology, secondary to a long refractory period as determined by the preceding R-R interval.
Richard Ashman, PhD Professorship established at LSU in 1993, funded by the Alumni Association

Major Publications

Hull E, Ashman R. Essentials of Electrocardiography: For the Student and Practitioner of Medicine. 1937
Ashman R. The normal duration of the Q-T interval. American Heart Journal. 1942; 23(4): 522-534.
Byer E, Ashman R, Toth LA. Electrocardiograms with large, upright T waves and long Q-T intervals. American Heart Journal. 1947; 33(6):796-806. [PMID: 20242366]
Gouaux JL. Ashman R. Auricular fibrillation with aberration simulating ventricular paroxysmal tachycardia. American Heart Journal. 1947; 34(3): 366-73. [PMID 20262631] [Ashman phenomenon]
Hyman A, Failey RB, Ashman R. Can the longitudinal anatomical axis of the ventricles be estimated from the electrocardiogram? Am Heart J. 1948 Dec;36(6):906-10. [PMID 18893574]
Ashman R. The Hog Caller. Prairie Schooner 1954;28(4):331