Abstract

BACKGROUND: Standard translations of Hippocratic works are sometimes misleading because the translators knew less about their subject than did the ancient authors.

CASE REPORT: A new translation and explication of a chapter from a Hippocratic work of the fifth century before the Common Era (BCE), Diseases II, describes patients with pituitary apoplexy and subsequent myxedema, the 2 events separated by as much as 14 years.

CONCLUSIONS: The association of myxedema with an intracranial event that occurred years earlier predates by 2400 years the causal association of a pituitary adenoma with hormonal deficiency.

Keywords: Hippocrates, History, Ancient, Myxedema, pituitary apoplexy, Hypothyroidism, Pituitary Neoplasms, Translating