A biosketch of William Richard Gowers with a new review of his inpatient case history notes

Abstract

William Richard Gowers (1845–1915) spent his career working at the National Hospital for the Relief and Cure for the Paralyzed and Epileptic at Queen Square, in London, United Kingdom, and at the nearby University College Hospital. His “Manual of the Diseases of the Nervous System” and many published lectures were based almost entirely on his own clinical observations meticulously recorded in shorthand. In this paper, we have focused on an analysis of his inpatient case records from 1878 to 1911 preserved in the archives at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square. We reviewed all 42 volumes and analyzed 2,478 patients. Between 1897 and 1909, a mean of 129.7 cases per year were admitted to the hospital under Gowers' care. We grouped the diagnoses in 12 different categories. Epilepsy (16.5%), followed by spinal cord diseases (10.3%), cerebrovascular diseases (9.5%), and functional disorders (7.9%) were the most common diagnoses.

Sir William Richard Gowers (1845–1915) and his eponym

“…Although Gowers inveighed about of the use of eponyms, best known eponyms that bears his name are Gowers' phenomenon, Gowers' distal myopathy, Gowers' solution in the treatment of migraine, Gowers' anterior spinocerebellar tract, and Gowers' sign [10]. He also made contributions to other branches of neurology including neuromuscular diseases, neuro-ophthalmology, and spinal cord diseases [5]. He is probably best remembered for his most monumental contribution to the neurology.…”

“…His textbook "A Manual of Diseases of the Nervous System" was the most monumental contribution to neurology and has rightfully been called the "bible" of neurology [3,4]. His monographs and lectures were based almost entirely on his own clinical observations meticulously recorded in shorthand [5]. He described methods to evaluate muscular strength, coordination, sensory perception, tone, tremor, reflexes and actions of individual muscles, and functions of cranial nerves.…”