Sylvester McGinn
Sylvester McGinn (1904-1984) was an American cardiologist
McGinn was an American physician and cardiologist best remembered for co-describing, with Paul White (1886-1973), the electrocardiographic S1Q3T3 pattern (McGinn-White sign) in acute pulmonary embolism.
A graduate of Dartmouth and Harvard Medical School, McGinn’s career spanned several major Boston institutions, where he combined clinical cardiology with academic and organizational leadership. He served as a naval officer during World War II and held senior posts in cardiology at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Waltham Hospital. His eponymous contribution, published with Paul Dudley White in 1935, remains a classic though debated ECG sign in modern emergency medicine.
Biography
- 1904 – Born December 26 in Massachusetts, USA
- 1926 – BA, Dartmouth College
- 1929 – MD, Harvard medical school
- 1932 – Dalton Fellow, Cardiac clinics and Laboratory Massachusetts General Hospital
- 1935 – Co-authored first description of the S1Q3T3 ECG pattern in acute pulmonary embolism with Paul Dudley White
- 1938 – Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- 1941 – Cardiologist, Robert Breck Bingham Hospital
- 1943 – Commissioned Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy
- 1946 – Consultant in cardiology at the Waltham Hospital
- 1951 – Director of the Massachusetts Heart Association
- 1955 – Chief of medicine and cardiologists at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital; President of the Greater Boston Chapter of the State Heart Association; and on the National Council of Clinical Cardiology
- Died January 13, 1984 at Manatee County, Florida
Medical Eponyms
McGinn-White pattern (1935)
SI QIII TIII pattern on ECG representing right heart strain in an acute pulmonary embolism. McGinn and White first described the so-called S1Q3T3 pattern in five patients with acute cor pulmonale secondary to pulmonary embolism.
(1)The prominent S wave and low origin of the T wave in lead 1, the ST segment starting slightly below the baseline, (2) the gradual staircase ascent of the ST interval from the S wave to the T wave in lead 2, and especially (3) the Q wave and definite late inversion of the T wave in lead 3.
McGinn S and White PD
Fig. 2. Leads I, II, III four weeks after pulmonary embolism.
Case 1: McGinn, White. 1935
McGinn and White observed the S1Q3T3 pattern in five patients with acute cor pulmonale secondary to pulmonary embolism. Though later studies questioned its sensitivity and specificity, the sign remains widely taught as a classic ECG finding suggestive of right heart strain.
Clinical relevance: Present in only ~10–50% of acute PE cases. While not pathognomonic, its presence—especially in the context of other clinical findings—can prompt urgent investigation for PE.
Associated features: Often accompanied by sinus tachycardia, right axis deviation, and right bundle branch block in severe cases.
Major Publications
- McGinn S, White PD. A Follow-up Report on the Clinical Study of Two Hundred and Fifty Cases of Cardiac Asthma and a Survey of an Additional Group of Twenty-Two New Cases. N Engl J Med 1932; 207: 1069-1073
- McGinn S, White PD. Clinical Observations on Aortic Stenosis. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1933; 49: 132-44
- McGinn S. Progress in the Study of Cardiovascular Disease in 1934. N Engl J Med 1935; 213: 1293-1303
- McGinn S, White PD. Acute cor pulmonale resulting from pulmonary embolism. JAMA. 1935; 104(17): 1473-1480 [McGinn-White pattern; defined acute cor pulmonale]
- Sprague HB, McGinn S. A Series of Cases in Which the Electrocardiographic Lead from the Cardiac Apex Was the Chief Diagnostic Aid in Coronary Occlusion. Trans Am Clin Climatol Assoc. 1937; 53: 81-91.
- Sprague HB, McGinn S. The Apical Chest Lead as the Chief Aid in the Diagnosis of Coronary Occlusion. N Engl J Med 1938; 218: 555-560
- McGinn S, Spear LM. Diaphragmatic Hernia Presenting the Clinical Picture of Acute Cor Pulmonale – Report of a Case. N Engl J Med 1941; 224: 1014-1018
- Sprague HB, McGinn S. Heart diseases and disorders as causes for evacuation from the South Pacific combat area. American Heart Journal, 1944; 27(4): 568–574
References
Biography
- Photo: Sylvester McGinn. Dartmouth Alumni 1956: 59
- Class of 1926. Dartmouth Alumni 1957
- Obit: Sylvester McGinn. In: Massachusetts Medical Society. New England Journal of Medicine, 1984; 310(12): 787
Eponymous terms
- Karn M, Yonghang S, Barma A, Sharma A. The classic S1Q3T3/McGinn-White sign in acute pulmonary embolism. QJM. 2024 Sep 1;117(9):665-666
- Teng F, Chen YX, He XH, Guo SB. Contribution of Quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score Combined with Electrocardiography in Risk Stratification of Patients with Acute Pulmonary Embolism. Chin Med J (Engl). 2018 Oct 20;131(20):2395-2401.
- Golzarian H, Chakraborty S, Shaikh MU, Hinegardner-Hendricks J, Toro DF. Severe Acute Cor Pulmonale With Impending Shock: An Insidious Incidental. JACC Case Rep. 2024 Feb 9;29(6):102241
Eponym
the person behind the name
FACEM, MBBS (Hon), B. Pharm. Emergency Medicine Education Fellow at Liverpool Hospital, Australia. Special interests in clinical education, ECG interpretation and diagnostic ultrasound. Proud father and husband, sadly a golf tragic
