St. Francis of Assisi’s fatal illness: A diagnosis based on alternative forms of intelligence
St. Francis of Assisi fresco located near the entrance of the Abbey of Saint Scholastica in Subiaco, Italy. Painted March 1228–March 1229 C.E. by an unknown artist. Photo permission from the photographer, Joanne Schatzlein
Reza Manesh, MD; Eliot L. Siegel, MD; Joanne Schatzlein, OSF, RN, MA; Philip A. Mackowiak, MD, MBA Dr. Manesh (AΩA, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2012) is a Hospitalist and Associate Professor of Medicine, Associate Program Director of Northwestern Internal Medicine Residency Program, Chicago, IL. Dr. Siegel is Professor, Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Chief of Imaging Service, VA Maryland Health Care System, Baltimore, MD. Sister Schatzlein is the Director, Office of Corporate Ministries, Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, Milwaukee, WI. Dr. Mackowiak (AΩA, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 1992) is Emeritus Professor of Medicine, Carolyn Frenkil and Selvin Passen History of Medicine Scholar-in-Residence, Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. He is also a member of The Pharos Editorial Board.
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n 1226, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, who would become St. Francis of Assisi, one of the most renowned and revered of all the Catholic saints, died of a mysterious illness, the cause of which has been debated throughout history. In May 2019, during the latest in an ongoing series of historical clinicopathological conferences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, individual, artificial, and collective intelligence, respectively, were employed to diagnose St. Francis’ fatal illness. The exercise generated a diagnosis supported by all three forms of intelligence and illustrated the promise and the limitations of artificial intelligence and collective intelligence in augmenting the capacity of individual clinicians to diagnose difficult cases. Three independent assessments of St. Francis’ clinical record were undertaken in diagnosing his fatal disorder—one by Sr. Joanne Schatzlein in collaboration with internist Daniel P. Sulmasy (AΩA, Weill Cornell Medical College, 1981); a second by the Isabel Differential The Pharos/Summer 2021