This case did not resemble any type of paroxysmal hypertension previously seen by Us

摘要

Most medical schools have faculty renown for their combination of clinical intuitiveness and natural teaching ability. At the University of Maryland School of Medicine from 1922 until 1960, that exemplar was the chairperson of medicine, Dr. Maurice Pincoffs. Pincoffs' style was described as "Oslerian," and he influenced decades of future medical students, residents, and practitioners (Fig. 1). As a mediqal student in the 1960s, I was told of his management of a 25-year-old woman who suffered from daily attacks of severe palpitations of the heart. With Oslerian compulsiveness, Professor Pincoffs asked her to return and remain in his office until he was able to observe one of her episodes. He documented "that between attacks the blood pressure varied between 110 and 120 systolic, but with the onset of symptoms it rose abruptly to as high as 260 systolic. This case did not resemble any type of paroxysmal hypertension previously seen by us" (1).