Inheritance vs. infectivity as a mechanism of malady and death of Frederic Chopin
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1Institute of Human Genetics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Strzeszynska 32, 60-479, Poznan, Poland. michal.witt@igcz.poznan.pl.
Abstract:
Based on a macroscopic analysis of the heart of Frederic Chopin performed in 2014, it can be stated with high probability that the composer suffered from a long lasting tuberculosis as a primary disease, which was the cause of progressive deterioration of his physical condition and numerous symptoms mainly from the respiratory tract. Tuberculous pericarditis rapidly progressing within a rather short period of time, a relatively rare complication of diffuse tuberculosis, might have been an immediate cause of death. This would aptly coincide with a startling opinion that in an autopsy picture the composer's heart had been more affected by the disease than the lungs.
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