Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Bäzner, H
• Hennerici, M.G
• Bogousslavsky, J
• Boller, F

Titel

The Subcortical Vascular Encephalopathy of Joseph Haydn – Pathographic Illustration of the Syndrome

Ist Teil von

• Neurological Disorders in Famous Artists, 2005, Vol.19, p.160-171

Ort / Verlag

Basel, Switzerland: S. Karger AG

Erscheinungsjahr

2005

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• When Joseph Haydn died in 1809, the 77-year-old man was the most famous composer of his time. With increasing age, he complained of progressive forgetfulness preventing him from composing for about the last 8 years of his life. He spent his days increasingly immobilized and inactive, suffering from a disabling gait disturbance. Still, most biographers quote the diagnosis of the composer’s final illness and a reason for his death as diffuse atherosclerosis and congestive heart failure (CHF). A more sophisticated pathography, however, can be referred to detailed analysis of documents and sources, which lead to a diagnosis of subcortical vascular encephalopathy (SVE). SVE is caused by progressive cerebral microangiopathy presenting with two main types of pathological changes: recurrent lacunar strokes and widespread diffuse white matter changes. Recently, research criteria have been proposed for subcortical vascular dementia, which is a misnomer for the syndrome, since important and predominant features as mood changes, urinary symptoms, and in particular a characteristic gait disturbance are not incorporated in this term while dementia is only mild and occurs later in the course. All of these manifestations, which probably result from ischemic interruption of parallel circuits from the prefrontal cortex to the basal ganglia and corresponding thalamocortical connections can be found in the famous composer. Haydn was severely disabled by the symptoms of SVE for several years and often reported difficulties in finishing his last oratorio Die Jahreszeiten. Subsequently, the disease prevented him from composing another large oratorio which had already been drafted. Finally, the progress of SVE stopped his long career as a composer at the age of 73 years.