Thomas Lewis
Biography
- Born 26 December 1881 Cardiff, Wales
- 1902 – BSc University College, Cardiff,
- 1927 – Suffered first heart attack and gave up his ’70 a day’ habit recognizing before others did that ‘smoking injures the blood vessels.’
- 1935 – Suffered a second heart attack and remarked ‘..another arrow from the same quiver my friend, and one of them will get me in the end’
- Died 17 March 1945 of myocardial infarction. Buried in Llangasty churchyard, Breconshire, Wales, overlooking Llangorse Lake, where he fished and studied nature as a young boy.
Medical Eponyms
Lewis lead (S5-lead) (1913): The Lewis lead configuration can help to detect atrial activity and its relationship to ventricular activity. Useful in observing flutter waves in atrial flutter; and detecting P waves in wide complex tacharrhythmia to identify atrioventricular dissociation
Lewis lead placement
- Right Arm (RA) electrode on manubrium
- Left Arm (LA) electrode over 5th ICS, right sternal border.
- Left Leg (LL) electrode over right lower costal margin.
- Monitor Lead I
Original Lewis Lead description (1913)
Thomas Lewis (1881-1945) developed and described (1913) his lead configuration to magnify atrial oscillations present during atrial fibrillation [Lewis T. Auricular fibrillation. In: Clinical Electrocardiography. 1913: 86-97]
Key Medical Attributions
Einthoven acknowledged Lewis in his 1925 Nobel Prize acceptance speech:
…Thomas Lewis, who has played a great part in the development of electrocardiography deserves a special mention. It is my conviction that the general interest in ECG would certainly not have risen so high, nowadays, if we had had to do without his work, and I doubt whether without his valuable contributions I should have the privilege of standing before you today.
Einthoven 1925
Major Publications
- Lewis T. Auricular fibrillation: A common clinical condition. Br Med J 1909; 2: 1528 [PMC2321318]
- Lewis T. Auricular fibrillation and its relationship to clinical irregularity of the Heart. Heart 1910; 1(4): 306–372.
- Lewis T. The mechanism of the heart beat with especial reference to its clinical pathology. London, Shaw. 1911
- Lewis T. Clinical disorders of the heartbeat. London, Shaw. 1912
- Lewis T. Clinical electrocardiography. London, Shaw. 1913
- Lewis T. Lectures on the heart. New York P.B. Hoeber 1915
- Lewis T. The spread of the excitatory process in the vertebrate heart. Parts I-V. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 1916; 207
- Lewis T. The soldier’s heart and the effort syndrome. London, Shaw. 1918
- Lewis T. The mechanism and graphic registration of the heart beat. London, Shaw. 1920
- Lewis T. Clinical science : illustrated by personal experiences. London, Shaw. 1934
- Lewis T. Reflections upon reform in medical education. Lancet 1944; 243(6298): 619–621
References
- Sir Thomas Lewis (1881-1945) experimental cardiologist. JAMA. 1966; 195(12): 1055-6.
- Hollman A. Thomas Lewis: physiologist, cardiologist and clinical scientist. Clin Cardiol. 1985; 8(10): 555-9.
- Hollman A. Sir Thomas Lewis: Clinical Scientist and Cardiologist, 1881–1945. Journal of Medical Biography, 1994; 2(2), 63–70.
- Xiao HB, Lawrence C. Reappraisal of Thomas Lewis’s place in the history of electrocardiography. J Electrocardiol. 1996; 29(4): 347-50
- Hollmann A. Sir Thomas Lewis: Pioneer Cardiologist and Clinical Scientist. Springer. 1997
- Krikler DM. Thomas Lewis, a father of modern cardiology. Heart. 1997; 77(2): 102–103.
- Nahm F, Freeman R. Vasovagal syncope: the contributions of Sir William R. Gowers and Sir Thomas Lewis. Arch Neurol. 2001; 58(3): 509-511.
- Pearce JM. Sir Thomas Lewis MD, FRS. (1881-1945). J Neurol. 2006; 253(9): 1246-7
- Munk’s Roll : Thomas (Sir) Lewis Volume IV: 531
- ECG Library – Lewis Lead. LITFL
- Cadogan M. History of the Electrocardiogram. LITFL
eponym
the person behind the name