William Dressler

Biography

• Born 9 August 1890, Vienna, Austria
• 1915 – Achieved MD qualification, University of Vienna, Austria
• 1934 – Cardiologist in Vienna
• 1938 – Emigrated to the USA as a refugee
• 1938-67 – Director of the cardiology clinic and electrocardiographic laboratory at Maimonides Medical Center, New York, USA
• Died 10 October 1969, New York, USA

Medical Eponyms

• Dressler beat (1952) – a ‘ventricular fusion beat’ in the presence of paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia.
• Dressler syndrome (1956) – pericarditis occurring up to 10 weeks following a myocardial infarction, also referred to as post myocardial infarction syndrome (PMIS)

Controversies

Note: Dressler syndrome (1854) – intermittent haemoglobinuria associated with haemolytic disorders was described by Lucas A Dressler. (Dressler LA. Ein Fall von intermittirender Albuminurie und Chromaturie. Archiv für pathologische Anatomie und Physiologie und für klinische Medicin. 1854;6:264-266)

Despite later publishing research on the success of cardiac pacemakers, Dr W Dressler was initially reluctant to his Maimonides Medical Centre colleague’s (Dr A Kantrowitz) idea of implanting a self-made pacemaker into his patient with Adams-Stokes syndrome. Dressler was said to have approached the hospital director to dismiss the pacemaker insertion, stating “that man [Kantrowitz] is too much. He wants to put a battery in my patient!”

Major Publications

• Frank L, Dressler W. Der Streber und andere Erzählungen. 1928
• Dressler W. Klinische Elektrokardiographie mit einem Grundriss der Arhythmien; eine Einführung für Studierende und Aerzte. Urban & Schwarzenberg. 1930.
• Dressler W. Die Brustwandpulsationen : als Symptome von Herz- und Gefässkrankheiten. Verlag. 1930.
• Dressler W. Klinische Elektrokardiographie mit einem Grundriss der Arhythmien. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Berlin. 1930
• Dressler W. Atlas der klinischen Elektrokardiographie, mit Anleitungen zur Differentialdiagnose. Urban & Schwarzenberg. 1936
• Dressler W. Clinical Cardiology. Hoeber. 1942
• Dressler W, Roesler H. An atlas of electrocardiography. Springfield. 1949
• Dressler W, Roesler H, Lackner H. The significance of notched upright T waves. Br Heart J. 1951 Oct;13(4):496-502. [PMC503697]
• Dressler W, Roesler H. The occurrence in paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia of ventricular complexes transitional in shape to sinoauricular beats: A diagnostic aid. Am Heart J. 1952 Oct;44(4):485-93. [PMID 12976333] [Dressler beat]
• Dressler W. Post-Myocardial Infarction Syndrome: Preliminary Report of a Complication Resembling Idiopathic, Recurrent, Benign Pericarditis. JAMA. 1956;160(16):1379-1383. [Dressler syndrome]
• Dressler W. The post-myocardial-infarction syndrome: a report on forty-four cases. AMA Arch Intern Med. 1959 Jan;103(1):28-42. [PMID 13605300]
• Dressler W. Transient bundle branch block occurring during slowing of the heart beat and following gagging. Am Heart J. 1959 Nov;58:760-4. [PMID 13818073]
• Dressler W, Leavitt SS. Pericarditis after acute myocardial infarction. Relapses over period of twenty-eight months. JAMA. 1960 Jul 16;173:1225-6. [PMID: 13818070]
• Dressler W. Existenz und Arbeit: das Problem der Konkretion des abstrakten Existenzbegriffes in der Philosophie J.P. Sartres. 1969
• Dressler W. Clinical aids in cardiac diagnosis. Grune & Stratton. 1970

References

• William Dressler, A Heart Specialist. New York Times, Oct 12, 1969, p. 86.
• Weisse AB. Heart to Heart: The Twentieth Century Battle Against Cardiac Disease: an Oral History. Rutgers University Press, 2002.
• Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Blumesberger S, Doppelhofer M, Mauthe G. Handbuch österreichischer Autorinnen und Autoren jüdischer Herkunft 18. bis 20. Jahrhundert: S-Z : 8923-11742, Register, Volume 3. Saur, 2002; 237-238.