Wilson's Disease

Abstract

THE TALENTS of S. A. Kinnier Wilson (1878 to 1937) were most apparent at the bedside and in the lecture hall. 1,2 He had little interest in experimentation and confined his attention to clinical matters. Thus, during his long professional career at the National Hospital, Queen Square, London, 3-5 Wilson wrote on a variety of clinical topics, ending with a two-volume textbook of neurology that was edited and published after his death. 6 Perhaps the best of these many contributions was a lengthy masterpiece that Wilson prepared for the MD degree at the University of Edinburgh. 7 In it, he reviewed a few previous reports and added four personal cases, crystallizing all of this information into a classic description of a distinct disease. But Wilson did not recognize the existence of the Kayser-Fleischer corneal ring 8-11 in his patients, and this sign was not appreciated as a manifestation of progressive