James Mackenzie

James Mackenzie was born at Pictonchill in Scone, where his father was a farmer. He left school at Peerth Academy at fourteen and was apprenticed to a chemist. In his early studies Mackenzie used Riva-Roccis sphygmograph to graphically record the pulse. Sir James Mackenzie was the key figure in shaping british cardiology.  Later Mackenzie devised a polygraph that allowed him to make records of the arterial and veonous pulses; he used this to evaluate the condition of the heart and to measure the AV interval. In 1890 he discovered premature ventricular contractions and use of the polygraph enabled Mackenzie to make original distinctions between harmless and dangerous types of pukse irregularities. Nackenzie suffered from an irregular heart beat, as a result of ischemic heart disease. He had his first heart attack in 1901, and recorded himself the atrial fibrilallation that accompained this episode. In 1902 Mackenzie published the results in The Study Of The Pulse. This book was pivotal in the development of cardiology and by this time he had undobtedly become the world clinical authority on the heart. Mackenzie included the bringing of objectivevity and measurment to the understanding of cardiac irregularities. In 1918 Mackenzie gave up his lucrative practice in London in order to return to his general practice roots, where he felt the significance of early signs and symptoms of disease could best be studied by long term follow up of patients.