Octavius Sturges

Octavius Sturges (1833 – 3 November 1894) was a British paediatrician who coined the term "chorea".

Early life He was born in London in 1833, the eighth son (hence the name) of John and Elisabeth Sturges. He attended King's College School and then was sent to the East India Company's Addiscombe Military Seminary, Croydon. After graduation in 1852 he served two years in the army as an officer in the East India Company in Bombay, but his military career ended in his erroneous diagnosis of aortic aneurysm. In 1857 he returned to the UK.

Career In July 1858 he enrolled at Emmanuel College, Cambridge to study medicine and graduated B.A. in 1861, M.B. in 1863, and M.D. in 1867. He then began practice in St George's Hospital, becoming medical registrar in 1863. He left to be assistant-physician at the Westminster Hospital in 1868 and became full physician in 1875. He was made assistant-physician to the Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street in 1873, and full physician in 1884.

Articles

Abstract of a Clinical Lecture on a Fatal Case of Pneumonia after an Accident Br Med J 1879;1:300 The Nomenclature of Pneumonia and other Allied Lung-Inflammations Br Med J 1881;1:11 The Heart Symptoms of Chorea Brain 1881;4(2):164-189 Remarks on Some Special Characters of the Present Epidemic of Typhoid Fever in London Br Med J 1882;2:1239 The Rheumatic Origin of Chorea The Lancet 1883;122(3141):808–810 The Kindred of Chorea American Journal of the Medical Sciences 1891;102(6):578-586 The Lumleian Lectures on Heart Inflammation in Children Br Med J 1894;1:505, 1894;1:561 and 1894;1:623 Empyema in Childhood The Lancet 1894;143(3689):1215-1216

Correspondence

The Westminster Hospital Br Med J 1871;2:451.3 The Treatment of Pneumonia Br Med J 1873;2:739.1 Out-Patients' Medical Relief Br Med J 1875;1:495.1 Dissolution of the Medical Teachers' Association Br Med J 1876;2:840.1 Is Collective Investigation Dangerous? Br Med J 1884;1:483.2 Collective Investigation Br Med J 1884;2:1097.1 The Collective Investigation Committee Br Med J 1884;2:985.1 The Pathology of Acute Pneumonia Br Med J 1885;1:99.1 Pneumonic Fever, Old and New Br Med J 1889;1:1030.2