title: [Wenckebach and his rhythm].
abstract: Karel Frederik Wenckebach (1864-1940) showed an aptitude for research even as a medical student in Utrecht. After graduation and a thesis on the bursa of Fabricius he worked as an assistant in the physiological laboratory. Following a stint as general practitioner in a mining community (1891-1896) he returned to Utrecht, where he could combine his practice with physiological studies, especially disturbances of the heart rhythm. In 1899, with no other recording instruments than a sphygmomanometer for tracing the radial pulse and a tuning fork for chronometry, he described the 'rhythmic arrhythmia' phenomenon: a missed beat after a given number of regular beats (mostly between three and six), followed by an intermission shorter than the interval between two regular beats. The Wenckebach rhythm is now also known as type I second-degree atrioventricular block. Wenckebach subsequently became a professor of medicine in Groningen (1901), Strasbourg (1911) and Vienna (1914-1929).
authors.affiliation: Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. jan@vangijn.com
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Gijn
authors.forename: Joost P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Gijselhart
mesh_terms: D006327:Heart Block / Q000266:history*; D006329:Heart Conduction System / Q000502:physiology*; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D009426:Netherlands; D010507:Periodicity