Leo Schamroth: his contributions to clinical electrocardiography - with reference to : incomplete left bundle-branch block.

Leo Schamroth (1924-1988) was one of the best-known South Africans in the international medical community. His book, An Introduction to Electrocardiography, first published in 1957, was my introduction to the mysteries of the ECG. The first edition was only 90 pages and was a model of clarity and simplicity, with remarkable insight into the needs of a student new to the subject. It has been translated into Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish and Japanese, and is said to be the book most often stolen from medical libraries worldwide. Schamroth was a superb teacher, not only of the ECG, and will be remembered by generations of students who passed through his hands during his tenure at the Chris Hani-Baragwanath Hospital from 1956 to 1987, occupying the Chair of Medicine there from 1972. As a lecturer who combined unrivalled clarity with showmanship, he held his audiences, at home and all over the world, spellbound. However, it was his ability to wring insights from the most ordinary-appearing ECG, by painstaking analysis, that is his enduring legacy.

Wilhelm His Jr. (1863-1934)--the man behind the bundle.

Wilhelm His Jr. (1863-1934) was a Swiss-born cardiologist and anatomist. In 1893, he discovered the bundle of His-the specialized tissue in the heart that transmits the electrical impulses and helps synchronize contraction. He pioneered studies in cardiac conduction and coined the term "heart block," which he identified as the cause of Adams-Stokes disease. He was a professor of medicine at the University of Berlin, became the dean of medicine in 1918 and in 1928 was elected rector of the University of Berlin. Through his long clinical and teaching career he became better known for his work on gout and diseases of the joints. "Trench fever," or Werner-His disease, was also named after him. This report presents the life and work of Wilhelm His Jr., who was described by his colleagues as "a master of his profession, a great physician, investigator, and a well cultured gentleman."

An historical review of the electrocardiogram of right bundle branch block in the Royal Canadian Air Force.

During the course of the Royal Canadian Air Force Electrocardiographic Program (1939-1986) a selected study of fit aircrew with right bundle branch block was studied. This review covers a period of 18 years during which a consecutive study of 139,651 men from 1960 to 1978 was carried out. Incomplete right bundle branch block of 0.10 s to 0.12 s occurred in 65 cases and complete right bundle branch block in 103 cases. The ages and follow-up periods are discussed. This study, in agreement with recent studies, indicates that right bundle branch block, both incomplete and complete, in itself does not indicate a dire prognosis, particularly when found in young men applying for aircrew training. The final conclusion is that right bundle branch block occurring in young applicants for aircrew training does not preclude their acceptance and this is now (since 1953) the policy of the Canadian armed forces.

Historic aeromedical perspective on left bundle branch block.

Military aviators represent a very highly trained, expensive personnel resource. It is incumbent upon the military medical care systems to manage the health aspects of this resource as wisely as possible. This can best be accomplished through a combination of preventive medicine and health promotion oriented clinical care coupled with epidemiologically sound aeromedical standards which ensure that flying safety and mission completion will not be compromised. Epidemiologically sound aeromedical standards, in most cases, can be formulated only through responsible clinical aeromedical research and investigation which is performed within the population for which the aeromedical standards are intended.