Familial hypertension in Morgagni's De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis

Morgagni was a contemporary of Malpighi, but unlike the latter he concentrated on macroscopic clinical and anatomic observations. His De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis consists of 5 books, written as letters to other scientists and members of foreign academies. He dealt with diseases of the head, the chest and the abdomen and with surgically treatable diseases. The final book contains corrections to the previous 4 in the light of new studies and extended clinical experience. One case history presented, of a patient of Valsalva's who died with edema and a bladder stone, can probably be considered as the first description of familial hypertension. From his clinical and autopsy investigations, Morgagni concluded that the patient died of hereditary bladder stone disease and apoplexy.