An Extraordinary Case of the Foramen Ovale of the Heart, Being Found Open in an Adult, Communicated by Claudius Amyand, Esq; Serjeant Surgeon to His Majesty, and F. R. S.

I reckon the Parish of Stoke-Damerell as healthful an Air as any in England. VIII. An Extraordinary Case of the Foramen Ovale of the Heart, being found open in an Adult, communicated by Claudius Amyand, Esq; Serjeant Surgeon to his Majesty, and F. R. S. Mr.* dying at the Age of Twenty-two, of an Illness that had perplexed his Physicians, was opened, to discover an Imposthume, which was apprehended in the Belly. As nothing was observed there worth notice, saving a very great Relaxation of the Viscera, the Cause of his Death was looked for in the Thorax; there the Lungs were strongly attached to the Pleura on each Side, and a large Collection of Water in each Cavity, especially on the Left, where the posterior Lobe was inflamed, and tending to Suppuration; the Quantity of Water in the Pericardium was greater than usual, and the Heart much larger than could be expected in so great an Atrophy as the Patient was reduced to; in it the Foramen Ovale was found open, so as to give passage to a large Finger, when a fungous Substance, which grew from the Circumference of the Foramen, and did stop up the same, was removed. The Valve was hardly perceptible, it being callous and furled up. The Ductus Arteriosus was found close as usual. This Patient had enjoyed great Health till lately, and had given no sign of this opening of the Foramen Ovale, which is præternatural in Adults. ERRATA: Pag. 146, l.21. r. Duplicia. Pag. 165, dele N., B. &c. all the 4 lines at the bottom.