[A missing name in the history of chagasic megaesophagus: Joseph Cooper Reinhardt (1809/10-1873)].

The book entitled "Brazil and the Brasilians", written by the Reverends Kidder and Fletcher and firstly published in the United States in 1857, reports the travels of these two missionaries throughout Brazil and includes a section entitled "A new disease". This section contains data regarding the clinical picture, the natural history and the epidemiology of a commom disease in Brazilian hinterland, which was known as "mal de engasgo". These informations were collected in 1855 by Rev. Fletcher from an anonymous North American physician, who worked in Limeira, State of São Paulo, and is called in the book merely as "Dr.-". The present work reports the results of an investigation carried out aiming at the identification of "Dr.-" and discloses documental evidence that "Dr.-" was actually Dr. Joseph Cooper Reinhardt (1809/10-1883). Dr. Reinhardt worked for many years in the citites of Limeira and Campinas, State of São Paulo, and probably had an extensive knowledge regarding the main features of this particular disease, which would be known, nearly 100 years later, as chagasic megaesophagus. The authors point out that, from now on, any account of the history of chagasic megaesophagus must include the name of Dr. Joseph Cooper Reinhardt.