title: The physician, the Emperor and the fibromyalgia: Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard (1817-1894) and Dom Pedro II (1825-1891) of Brazil.
abstract: The physician Charles-Édouard Brown-Séquard was a neurologist of considerable importance. In 1846 his thesis 'Researches and Experiments on the Physiology of the Spinal Cord' brought out knowledge about the sensory pathways which remains until today. The Emperor, Dom Pedro II was the second and last Emperor of Brazil, reigning for 49 years and remembered for defending the nation's integrity, the end of slavery, support for education and culture, diplomacy and relations with international personalities. He married Dona Teresa Cristina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies (1822-1889) by proxy in 1843, the fourth and last Empress consort of Brazil. This paper reports the exchange of letters between these personalities of the XIX century. Although they lived far from each other and worked in areas so different, they discussed the health of the Empress in letters. Dom Pedro II made contact with Brown-Séquard hoping that ' … your knowledge shall help heal my wife of nervous disease … . ' According to Dom Pedro the Empress suffered ' … for a long time with more or less long interruptions of horrible neuralgic pains in the legs, head and the scalp. Two points on the dorsal spine feel the effects more or less with pressure applied … . ' In addition to describing and documenting the exchange of letters, this paper raises the possibility that the Empress suffered from the fibromyalgia syndrome.
authors.forename: Patricia Shu
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Kurizky
authors.forename: Ana Cristina Vanderley
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Licia Maria Henrique
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: da Mota
authors.forename: Leonardo Rios
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.forename: Leopoldo Luiz
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Dos Santos Neto
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D015709:Correspondence as Topic / Q000266:history; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000266:history*; D005602:France; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D009462:Neurology / Q000266:history
keywords: Brazil; Brown-Séquard; Charles Nodier; Claude Bernard; Dom Pedro II; Teresa Cristina; fibromyalgia