The uncinated crisis of George Gershwin

Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2002 Jun;60(2-B):505-8. doi: 10.1590/s0004-282x2002000300033.

Abstract

George Gershwin, renowned composer and pianist, well known for his popular works, died on the 11th July 1937 due to a brain tumor. His neurological symptoms first appeared on that same year, in February, with a simple olfactory partial seizure, characterized by an unpleasant smell of burnt rubber (uncinated seizure). He later had a quick clinical descend, with severe headache that occurred in bouts, dizziness, coordination compromise and olfactory seizures, eventually lapsing into a coma on the 9th July 1937. It was then that a gliomatosus cyst was diagnosed, which on microscopic examination proved to be a "glioblastoma multiforme". Despite the surgical intervention, Gershwin died soon after the procedure without recovering his consciousness. We make a brief review of Gershwin's neurologic disease, with emphasis on the initial symptoms, namely the uncinated seizures.

Publication types

  • Biography
  • Historical Article

MeSH terms

  • Brain Neoplasms / history*
  • Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / etiology
  • Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / history*
  • Famous Persons*
  • Glioblastoma / history*
  • History, 20th Century
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Music / history*
  • United States

Personal name as subject

  • George Gershwin