OCCIDENTAL BERIBERI HEART DISEASE

Abstract

Although descriptions of beriberi date far back in the oriental literature, the modern concept of heart disease due to beriberi is dominated by the vivid descriptions of Wenckebach¹ in the Far East and by the observations of Weiss and Wilkins² in the United States. Beriberi has not, however, gained much recognition in the etiology of heart disease in this country even though the descriptions of the latter authors have been readily available. In collaboration with Aalsmeer, a physician in Java, Wenckebach¹ described in 1932 a large heart, particularly the right side, with precordial pulsations and a "jumpy pulsus celer of increased frequency" in persons with slight to absent neurologic findings and beginning dependent edema. These patients had "curious hardness and swelling of the calf muscles," "pistol shot sounds" over the larger arteries and peripheral vasodilatation, and there was "quick and great benefit" afforded by rest. Shock and