On the Cause of Syncope and Sudden Death in Primary Pulmonary Hypertension (1962)

Article1 February 1962On the Cause of Syncope and Sudden Death in Primary Pulmonary HypertensionTHOMAS N. JAMES, M.D., F.A.C.P.THOMAS N. JAMES, M.D., F.A.C.P.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-56-2-252 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptSyncope and sudden death are common clinical features of primary pulmonary hypertension (1-20). A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain these phenomena, but none has been fully satisfactory, principally because of the failure to account for the infrequency of these features in secondary pulmonary hypertension.While the author was studying the histopathology of the sinus node in a variety of diseases, a case of primary pulmonary hypertension was examined. The sinus node in this case was extensively infarcted. 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