Pedro Francisco da Costa Alvarenga | |
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Born | 1826 |
Died | 14 July 1883 | (aged 56–57)
Nationality | Portuguese |
Occupation(s) | Physician and professor |
Signature | |
Pedro Francisco da Costa Alvarenga (1826 – 14 July 1883) was a Brazilian-born Portuguese physician. He taught Materia Medica at the Lisbon Medical Surgical School and left several works dealing chiefly with cardiology. He was a founder and main editor of the Gazeta Médica de Lisboa.[1]
He became notable for his clinical work during the cholera morbus and yellow fever epidemics in Lisbon in 1856 and 1857, respectively. Alvarenga also introduced the sphygmograph, the first non-intrusive device used to estimate blood pressure, to Portugal.[2]
Alvarenga discovered the double crural murmur, a sign of aortic insufficiency (published in 1855, translated to French in 1856[3]), almost a decade before Duroziez.
The Alvarenga Prize (Swedish: Alvarengas pris), named after Alvarenga, is awarded by the Swedish Medical Society.[5]