A more recent analysis is given by Meyer of cases
reported since 1870: Meyer collects 25 cases of rupture of the
left ventricle seven of the right ventricle, and four of the
right auricle. Within the last year Collings has reported a case
of idiopathic rupture of the heart in a man of fifty-three, who
had always lived a temperate life, and whose only trouble had
been dyspepsia and a weak heart. There was no history of
rheumatism or rheumatic fever. The man's father had died suddenly
of heart disease. After feeling out of sorts for a time, the man
experienced severe pain in the precordium and felt too ill to
leave his bed. He gradually became worse and sick after taking
food. Speech became thick, the mouth was drawn to the right, and
the right eye was partially closed. The left arm became
paralyzed, then the right leg. The tongue deviated to the right
on protrusion. The sphincters were unaffected. The heart sounds
were faint and without added sounds. The man was moved to a
water-bed, his body and head being kept horizontal, and great
care being taken to avoid sudden movement. Later, when his pelvis
was raised to allow the introduction of a bed-pan, almost
instantaneous death ensued. Upon postmortem examination prolonged
and careful search failed to reveal any microscopic change in the
brain, its vessels, or the meninges.
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