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Polish scientists closer to explaining the cause of Chopin’s death

The results of research conducted by Polish scientists on Chopin's heart and published recently in the American Journal of Medicine show that the composer was suffering from tuberculosis and the direct cause of his death was probably tuberculous pericarditis (Witt M, Szklener A, Kawecki J, Rużyłło W, Negrusz-Kawecka M, Jeleń M, Langfort R, Marchwica W, Dobosz T. A Closer Look at Frederic Chopin's Cause of Death. Am J Med. 2017 Oct 11).

chopin

The hypotheses about other causes of Chopin’s death (e.g. cystic fibrosis, alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency, mitral stenosis), which appeared in the literature, now may seem outdated.

The paper received wide media coverage. Nature (November 10, 2017) mentioned it on its editorial page and extensive articles appeared in the daily press around the world (e.g. The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Rzeczpospolita).

The paper’s lead author is Prof. Michał Witt from the Institute of Human Genetics of the Polish Academy of Sciences, among the authors is also Prof. Witold Rużyłło, Dean of Division V Medical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

http://igcz.poznan.pl/informacje-o-instytucie-w-mediach/media-na-swiecie-o-publikacji-prof-m-witta/

http://igcz.poznan.pl/warto-przeczytac/nature-komentuje-publikacje-prof-m-witta/

https://www.nature.com/news/fr%C3%A9d%C3%A9ric-chopin-s-telltale-heart-1.22915