Daily AncestorDropsy of the heart
Dropsy of the heart, or hydropericardium, meant fluid collected in the sac around the heart, one of several kinds of dropsy named by where the fluid gathered.
Old doctors named dropsy by its place: dropsy of the chest, of the belly, of the brain and of the heart. Webster's 1913 defines dropsy as an unnatural collection of fluid in any cavity of the body.
Hydropericardium is the medical name for fluid in the pericardium, the sac around the heart. A large amount of fluid there can squeeze the heart and stop it filling properly.
As seen in a recordCause of death column, 1850 to 1880 federal mortality schedule
Eliza Brant, 64, F, W, Dropsy of the heart
Sources
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Daily Ancestor. "Dropsy of the heart." Dictionary of Old Record Words. https://dailyancestor.com/dictionary/causes-of-death/dropsy-of-the-heart. Last checked 2026-10-10.