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"The President's Syndrome": The Diagnosis and Treatment of Gerald Ford's Lingual Actinomycosis.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Lee, J; Pappas, TN
Published in: Am Surg
November 2023

Gerald R. Ford was the 38th president of the United States. He was appointed as vice president by Richard Nixon in 1974 upon the resignation of Spiro T. Agnew. In the midst of the Watergate Crisis, Nixon resigned making Ford the only president to serve without being elected as either president or vice president. In the year 2000, 13 years after his abbreviated term in office, he was attending the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia where he developed pain in his tongue, slurring of his speech, and signs of a stroke. He was taken to the emergency room of Hahnemann University Hospital where a CT scan showed a posterior circulation stroke. Within 24 hours, all of Ford's symptoms improved except for his tongue pain and speech. An MRI of the head and neck showed a tongue mass and he was taken to the operating room where an abscess was found. The bacteriology confirmed actinomycosis of the tongue and Ford rapidly improved after the incision and drainage. This paper will review the clinical course of Gerald Ford's lingual actinomycosis and will discuss this rare condition.

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Published In

Am Surg

DOI

EISSN

1555-9823

Publication Date

November 2023

Volume

89

Issue

11

Start / End Page

5057 / 5061

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Tongue
  • Surgery
  • Stroke
  • Philadelphia
  • Pain
  • Male
  • Humans
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences
 

Citation

APA
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ICMJE
MLA
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Lee, J., & Pappas, T. N. (2023). "The President's Syndrome": The Diagnosis and Treatment of Gerald Ford's Lingual Actinomycosis. Am Surg, 89(11), 5057–5061. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348221084953
Lee, Janet, and Theodore N. Pappas. “"The President's Syndrome": The Diagnosis and Treatment of Gerald Ford's Lingual Actinomycosis.Am Surg 89, no. 11 (November 2023): 5057–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/00031348221084953.
Lee, Janet, and Theodore N. Pappas. “"The President's Syndrome": The Diagnosis and Treatment of Gerald Ford's Lingual Actinomycosis.Am Surg, vol. 89, no. 11, Nov. 2023, pp. 5057–61. Pubmed, doi:10.1177/00031348221084953.

Published In

Am Surg

DOI

EISSN

1555-9823

Publication Date

November 2023

Volume

89

Issue

11

Start / End Page

5057 / 5061

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Tongue
  • Surgery
  • Stroke
  • Philadelphia
  • Pain
  • Male
  • Humans
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 1103 Clinical Sciences