McIlroy was here. Or was he?

Abstract

It is now over a year since we last heard of Mr McIlroy, and we must presume him dead.With him has passed an era.His brilliant career spanned the entire life of our National Health Service, and it is improbable that we shall ever see the like of him again.In his day he baffled, entertained, fooled, and infuriated the medical and nursing staff of many hospitals.Numerous neurologists must have made his acquaintance, and many physicians from overseas may remember him from difficult hours spent in his company in various British casualty departments.How much Mr McIlroy cost the health services both here and in Eire will remain a matter for conjecture.The sum must run into six, possibly seven figures. Case historyStewart Mcllroy may have been born in County Donegal in 1915.His early life was uneventful.In 1944 he was admitted several times to the City Hospital, Belfast, with a left-knee injury that failed to heal.In 1947 "Convict McIlroy" was transferred from HM Prison, Belfast, to Purdysburn Mental Hospital, where he spent five years before beginning his peregrinations.London attracted him.In 1954 Charing Cross Hospital admitted him with a left pneumothorax, sustained (so he claimed) during the reduction of a dislocated shoulder under local anaesthesia at another London teaching hospital.Later that year neurological symptoms made their appearance.These were dramatic, consisting of recurrent episodes of headache, photophobia, neck stiffness, and left hemiplegia.Subarachnoid haemorrhage was repeatedly diagnosed but never confirmed, numerous lumbar punc- tures yielding clear fluid.Surprisingly, many carotid angiograms were performed, all of them proving normal.Palpation of the skull, on the rare occasions it was carried out, showed the presence of burr- holes.He often demanded large doses of analgesics, and was referred