An Interactive Annotated World Bibliography of Printed and Digital Works in the History of Medicine and the Life Sciences from Circa 2000 BCE to 2022 by Fielding H. Garrison (1870-1935), Leslie T. Morton (1907-2004), and Jeremy M. Norman (1945- ) Traditionally Known as “Garrison-Morton”

15961 entries, 13944 authors and 1935 subjects. Updated: March 22, 2024

BURNS, Allan

2 entries
  • 2738
  • 2889

Observations on some of the most frequent and important diseases of the heart.

Edinburgh: Bryce & Co, 1809.

Burns described endocarditis and reported three cases of mitral stenosis. He recognized the thrill present in the latter condition and seems to have understood the mechanism of a cardiac murmur. He also described unilateral paralysis of the diaphragm resulting from pressure on the phrenic nerve by a thoracic aneurysm. Burns was also among the first to suggest (see p. 136) that angina pectoris is an expression of coronary obstruction. Biography by J. B. Herrick, 1935.



Subjects: CARDIOLOGY › CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE › Aneurysms, CARDIOLOGY › CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE › Coronary Artery Disease › Angina Pectoris, CARDIOLOGY › Tests for Heart & Circulatory Function › Auscultation and Physical Diagnosis, INFECTIOUS DISEASE › Endocarditis
  • 3055
  • 405

Observations on the surgical anatomy of the head and neck.

Edinburgh: T. Bryce, 1811.

Burns was the first to suggest (p. 31) ligature of the innominate artery. His book describes “Burns’s space”, the fascial space at the suprasternal notch.

The first recorded case of chloroma (myeloid sarcoma, granulocytic sarcoma, extramedullary myeloid tumor), a manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia, is found on p. 396 of this book. This was of course, about 30 years before leukemia was understood as a disease.



Subjects: ANATOMY › 19th Century, HEMATOLOGY › Blood Disorders, ONCOLOGY & CANCER › Leukemia, VASCULAR SURGERY