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Da Costa's syndrome, also known as soldier's heart among other names, was a syndrome or a set of symptoms similar to those of heart disease. These include fatigue upon exertion, shortness of breath, palpitations, sweating, chest pain, and sometimes orthostatic intolerance. It was originally thought to be a cardiac condition, and treated with a predecessor to modern cardiac drugs. In modern times, it is believed to represent several unrelated disorders, some of which have a known medical basis.

Historically, similar forms of this disorder have been noticed in various wars, like the American Civil War and Crimean war, and among British troops who colonized India. The condition was named after Jacob Mendes Da Costa who investigated and described the disorder in 1871.

Signs and symptoms

Symptoms of Da Costa's syndrome include fatigue upon exertion, weakness induced by minor activity, shortness of breath, palpitations, sweating, and chest pain.

Causes

Da Costa's syndrome was originally considered to be heart failure or other cardiac condition, and was later recategorized to be psychiatric. The term is no longer in common use by any medical agencies and has generally been superseded by more specific diagnoses, some of which have a medical basis.

Diagnosis

Although it is listed in the ICD-9 (306.2) and ICD-10 (F45.3) under "somatoform autonomic dysfunction", the term is no longer in common use by any medical agencies and has generally been superseded by more specific diagnoses.

The orthostatic intolerance observed by Da Costa has since also been found in patients diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and mitral valve prolapse syndrome. In the 21st century, POTS is classified as a neurological condition. Exercise intolerance has since been found in many organic diseases.

Classification

There are many names for the syndrome, which has variously been called soldier's heart, cardiac neurosis, chronic asthenia, effort syndrome, functional cardiovascular disease, neurocirculatory asthenia, primary neurasthenia, and subacute asthenia. Da Costa himself called it irritable heart  and the term soldier's heart was in common use both before and after his paper. Most authors use these terms interchangeably, but some authors draw a distinction between the different manifestations of this condition, preferring to use different labels to highlight the predominance of psychiatric or non-psychiatric complaints. For example, Oglesby Paul writes that "Not all patients with neurocirculatory asthenia have a cardiac neurosis, and not all patients with cardiac neurosis have neurocirculatory asthenia." None of these terms have widespread use.

Treatment

The report of Da Costa shows that patients recovered from the more severe symptoms when removed from the strenuous activity or sustained lifestyle that caused them. A reclined position and forced bed rest were the most beneficial.

Other treatments evident from the previous studies were improving physique and posture, appropriate levels of exercise where possible, wearing loose clothing about the waist, and avoiding postural changes such as stooping, or lying on the left or right side, or the back in some cases, which relieved some of the palpitations and chest pains, and standing up slowly can prevent the faintness associated with postural or orthostatic hypotension in some cases.

Pharmacological intervention came in the form of digitalis, a group of glycoside drugs derived from the foxglove (Digitalis purpurea), which is now known to act as a sodium-potassium ATPase inhibitor, increasing stroke volume and decreasing heart rate; at the time it was used for the latter effect in patients with palpitations.

History

Da Costa's syndrome is named for the surgeon Jacob Mendes Da Costa, who first observed it in soldiers during the American Civil War. At the time it was proposed, Da Costa's syndrome was seen as a very desirable physiological explanation for "soldier's heart". Use of the term "Da Costa's syndrome" peaked in the early 20th century. Towards the mid-century, the condition was generally re-characterized as a form of neurosis. It was initially classified as "F45.3" (under somatoform disorder of the heart and cardiovascular system) in ICD-10, and is now classified under "somatoform autonomic dysfunction".

Da Costa's syndrome involves a set of symptoms that include left-sided chest pains, palpitations, breathlessness, and fatigue in response to exertion. Earl de Grey who presented four reports on British soldiers with these symptoms between 1864 and 1868, and attributed them to the heavy weight of military equipment being carried in knapsacks that were tightly strapped to the chest in a manner that constricted the action of the heart. Also in 1864, Henry Harthorme observed soldiers in the American Civil War who had similar symptoms that were attributed to "long-continued overexertion, with deficiency of rest and often nourishment", and indefinite heart complaints were attributed to lack of sleep and bad food. In 1870 Arthur Bowen Myers of the Coldstream Guards also regarded the accoutrements as the cause of the trouble, which he called neurocirculatory asthenia and cardiovascular neurosis.

J. M. Da Costa's study of 300 soldiers reported similar findings in 1871 and added that the condition often developed and persisted after a bout of fever or diarrhoea. He also noted that the pulse was always greatly and rapidly influenced by position, such as stooping or reclining. A typical case involved a man who was on active duty for several months or more and contracted an annoying bout of diarrhoea or fever, and then, after a short stay in hospital, returned to active service. The soldier soon found that he could not keep up with his comrades in the exertions of a soldier's life as previously, because he would get out of breath, and would get dizzy, and have palpitations and pains in his chest, yet upon examination some time later he appeared generally healthy. In 1876 surgeon Arthur Davy attributed the symptoms to military foot drill where "over-expanding the chest, caused dilatation of the heart, and so induced irritability".

During World War I, Sir Thomas Lewis (who had been a member of staff of the Medical Research Committee) studied many soldiers who had been referred to the Military Heart Hospitals in Hampstead and Colchester with 'disordered action of the heart' or 'valvular disease of the heart'. In 1918 he published a monograph summarizing his findings, which showed that the vast majority did not have structural heart disease, as evidenced by the diagnostic methods available at the time. In it, he reviewed the difference in symptoms between 'effort syndrome' and structural heart disease, examined possible causes of 'effort syndrome', the diagnosis of structural heart disease in soldiers, its outlook and treatment, and lessons learned by the Army.

Since then, a variety of similar or partly similar conditions named above have been described.

See also

• Shell shock
• Combat fatigue
• Takotsubo cardiomyopathy
• Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome
• Soldier's Heart (novel)

References

1. Vilarinho, Yuri C. (2014). "Irritable heart syndrome in Anglo-American medical thought at the end of the nineteenth century". Historia, Ciencias, Saude--Manguinhos. 21 (4): 1151–1177. doi:10.1590/S0104-59702014000400005. ISSN 1678-4758. PMID 25606722.
2. Paul, O (October 1987). "Da Costa's syndrome or neurocirculatory asthenia". British Heart Journal. 58 (4): 306–315. doi:10.1136/hrt.58.4.306. ISSN 0007-0769. PMC 1277260. PMID 3314950.
3. Wooley, C F (1976-05-01). "Where are the diseases of yesteryear? DaCosta's syndrome, soldiers heart, the effort syndrome, neurocirculatory asthenia--and the mitral valve prolapse syndrome". Circulation. 53 (5): 749–751. doi:10.1161/01.CIR.53.5.749. PMID 770030. S2CID 5070867.
4. ^ Halstead, Megan (2018-01-01). "Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome: An analysis of cross-cultural research, historical research, and patient narratives of the diagnostic experience". Senior Honors Theses & Projects.
5. ^ "2008 ICD-9-CM Diagnosis 306.* - Physiological malfunction arising from mental factors". 2008 ICD-9-CM Volume 1 Diagnosis Codes. Retrieved 2008-05-26. Neurocirculatory asthenia is most typically seen as a form of anxiety disorder.
6. "Dorlands Medical Dictionary: Da Costa syndrome". Merck. Archived from the original on 20 Aug 2009. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
7. "ICD-10 Version:2010". icd.who.int. Retrieved 2023-03-14.
8. Low, Phillip A.; Sandroni, Paola; Joyner, Michael; Shen, Win-Kuang (March 2009). "Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS)". Journal of Cardiovascular Electrophysiology. 20 (3): 352–358. doi:10.1111/j.1540-8167.2008.01407.x. ISSN 1540-8167. PMC 3904426. PMID 19207771.
9. Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM): Orthostatic Intolerance - 604715
10. "Neurasthenia". Rare Disease Database. National Organization for Rare Disorders, Inc. 2005. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
11. Paul Wood, MD (1941-05-24). "Da Costa's Syndrome (or Effort Syndrome). Lecture I". Lectures to the Royal College of Physicians of London. 1 (4194). British Medical Journal: 1(4194): 767–772. doi:10.1136/bmj.1.4194.767. PMC 2161922. PMID 20783672. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
12. Cohen ME, White PD (November 1, 1951). "Life situations, emotions, and neurocirculatory asthenia (anxiety neurosis, neurasthenia, effort syndrome)". Psychosomatic Medicine. 13 (6): 335–57. doi:10.1097/00006842-195111000-00001. PMID 14892184. S2CID 7139766. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
13. ^ Paul O (1987). "Da Costa's syndrome or neurocirculatory asthenia". British Heart Journal. 58 (4): 306–15. doi:10.1136/hrt.58.4.306. PMC 1277260. PMID 3314950.
14. ^ Da Costa, Jacob Medes (January 1871). "On irritable heart; a clinical study of a form of functional cardiac disorder and its consequences". The American Journal of the Medical Sciences (61): 18–52.
15. Paul, Oglesby (1987). "DaCosta's syndrome or neurocirculatory astheniaBrHeartJ1987;58:306-15" (PDF). Br Heart J. 58 (4): 306–315. doi:10.1136/hrt.58.4.306. PMC 1277260. PMID 3314950. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
16. "Da Costa's syndrome". www.whonamedit.com. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
17. National Research Council; Committee on Veterans' Compensation for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (2007). PTSD Compensation and Military Service: Progress and Promise. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. p. 35. doi:10.17226/11870. ISBN 978-0-309-10552-1. Retrieved 2008-05-26. Being able to attribute soldier's heart to a physical cause provided an "honorable solution" to all vested parties, as it left the self-respect of the soldier intact and it kept military authorities from having to explain the "psychological breakdowns in previously brave soldiers" or to account for "such troublesome issues as cowardice, low unit morale, poor leadership, or the meaning of the war effort itself" (Van der Kolk et al., as cited in Lasiuk, 2006).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
18. Edmund D., MD Pellegrino; Caplan, Arthur L.; Mccartney, James Elvins; Dominic A. Sisti (2004). Health, Disease, and Illness: Concepts in Medicine. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-58901-014-7.
19. World Health Organization (1992). Icd-10: The Icd-10 Classification of Mental and Behavioural Disorders : Clinical Descriptions and Diagnostic Guidelines. Geneva: World Health Organization. p. 168. ISBN 978-92-4-154422-1.
20. ^ Goetz, C.G. (1993). Turner C.M.; Aminoff M.J. (eds.). Handbook of Clinical Neurology. B.V.: Elsevier Science Publishers. pp. 429–447.
21. Mackenzie, Sir James; R. M. Wilson; Philip Hamill; Alexander Morrison; O. Leyton; Florence A. Stoney (1916-01-18). "Discussions On The Soldier's Heart". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine, Therapeutical and Pharmacological Section. 9: 27–60.
22. Lewis, Thomas (1918). The Soldier's Heart and the Effort Syndrome (1st ed.). London: Shaw & Sons. p. 2.

External links

• Anxiety disorders
• Obsolete medical theories
• Psychopathological syndromes