Felix Mendelssohn's family's brain condition

Abstract

Like Mozart, the German musician Felix Mendelssohn was recognised early as a child prodigy, became popular as a young man, grew old quickly, and died young. He revealed the genius of Johann Sebastian Bach after almost a century of oblivion and was Goethe's favourite musician. Of a fragile constitution, Mendelssohn was a very friendly but rather introverted and sensitive person. 1 Breitenfeld T Breitenfeld D Vargek-Solter V Delija A Sostar Z Demarin V Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). Goethe's favorite. Acta Clin Croat. 2009; 48: 315-318 PubMed Google Scholar After the sudden death of his sister Fanny in May 1847, he began to show signs of clear depression, together with physical weakness and decrease in creativity. 1 Breitenfeld T Breitenfeld D Vargek-Solter V Delija A Sostar Z Demarin V Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). Goethe's favorite. Acta Clin Croat. 2009; 48: 315-318 PubMed Google Scholar In October 1847, he started to complain about sudden severe headache and probably had epileptic seizures. His condition deteriorated abruptly on Nov 3, 1847, when he suddenly screamed because he felt a terrible headache, dropped in his bed, and fainted. His alertness fluctuated, he showed slowed psychomotor responses, and finally became comatose hours before he died on Nov 4, 1847, at the age of 38 years. 1 Breitenfeld T Breitenfeld D Vargek-Solter V Delija A Sostar Z Demarin V Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). Goethe's favorite. Acta Clin Croat. 2009; 48: 315-318 PubMed Google Scholar The most plausible cause of his death is aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. 1 Breitenfeld T Breitenfeld D Vargek-Solter V Delija A Sostar Z Demarin V Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847). Goethe's favorite. Acta Clin Croat. 2009; 48: 315-318 PubMed Google Scholar , 2 Schmideler S Somburg O Steinberg H Splett T Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1809–1847): the mystery of his early death. Fortschr Neurol Psychiatr. 2006; 74: 522-527 Crossref PubMed Scopus (4) Google Scholar , 3 Gasenzer ER Neugebauer EA Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and Fanny Hensel: two cases of intracerebral hemorrage and great composers of the nineteenth century. Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2014; 156: 1047-1051 Crossref PubMed Scopus (3) Google Scholar His sister had shown similar symptoms before her death at age 42 years. His grandfather Moses and both his parents had died from similar strokes. Although the primary evidence from the time is scarce, it points towards a possibility of familial cerebral aneurysms and subarachnoid haemorrhage, making the Mendelssohn family a rare and interesting, although speculative, medical and historical example. Even more speculative, but similarly intriguing, is the possible familial diagnosis of Ehlers-Danlos-Syndrome Type IV, which is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait. This syndrome occurs with arterial aneurysms, dissection or rupture of arterial vessels of large and medium diameter, together with characteristic facial features (acrogeria). 4 Steinmann B Royce PM Superti-Furga A The Ehlers-Danlos syndromes. in: Royce PM Steinmann B Connective tissue and its heritable disorders: molecular, genetic, and medical aspects. Wiley-Liss, New York2002 Crossref Google Scholar The latter may be found in contemporary depictions of Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn.