Honoring the Admiral: Boerhaave-van Wassenaer's syndrome

Abstract

Dr. Herman Boerhaave (1668-1738) first described esophageal rupture and the subsequent mediastinal sepsis based upon his careful clinical and autopsy findings and hundreds of references have since been written about Boerhaave's syndrome. Several fine historical accounts of this brilliant scientist have been published over the years and he has received appropriate credit for his valuable contributions. But what about that unfortunate propositus that Dr. Boerhaave attended to, performed necropsy upon, and subsequently received acclaim with? Medical history pays inadequate regard to the Baron Jan Gerrit van Wassenaer heer van Rosenberg, Prefect of Rhineland and Grand Admiral of the Dutch Fleet. This figure was a nobleman and war hero at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age who played his role in steering the course of European history. Without this nobleman's heroic contemporaneous account, Boerhaave's celebrated impact on medical science would never have been realized. Therefore, we offer an overdue recitation of Admiral van Wassenaer's biography. Based on found precedent we propose that spontaneous rupture of the esophagus be henceforth referred to as the 'Boerhaave-van Wassenaer's syndrome'.