Category: Cardiology
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Measure of the heart: Santorio Santorio and the pulsilogium
Richard de GrijsDaniel VuillerminBeijing, China The heart is a musical organ. The irregularity of one’s inhalation and exhalation of air defies musicality, while the involuntary rumbling of moving gas in the intestines is embarrassingly analogous to the timbre of the tuba or trombone. Biomedical terminology and poetry are seemingly antithetical, but of the heart they…
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The pulsilogium and the diagnosis of love sickness
Donatella LippiGiuseppe MasciaLuigi PadelettiFlorence, Italy Doctors since time immemorial have felt the pulse of their patients, noting its regularity, frequency, strength, and breadth, at times using colorful expressions to variously describe it as “formicant” or “vermicular” (ant-like or worm-like),1 and diagnosing “love sickness” in maidens by the presence of the so-called pulsus amatorius. (Fig 1.)…
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A theologian answers questions about the heart: St. Thomas Aquinas’ De Motu Cordis
Michael PottsNorth Carolina, United States Suppose you are a high school teacher in a basic biology class and you have a question about the function of the heart. You decide to ask an expert, so you dial a university and ask for . . . a theologian. This is what one teacher did, although he…
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The heart in Star Trek
Victor GrechTal-Qroqq Star Trek (ST) is a fictional utopian future history depicting how humanity might develop up to the 24th century. The series and movies comprise a metanarrative that encompasses 735 hours of viewing time, and thereby provides a fertile ground for analysis of various areas of critical study. In several ST episodes, the heart…
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The vaudeville revue
Terry WahlsIowa, United States My partner, Jackie, asks Grandma if she would like to come with her to watch the dress rehearsal for the Vaudeville Revue. Since my children, Zach and Zebby, were toddlers we have called my mom “Grandma.” I thought it was less confusing to my kids to have me use the term…
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Defibrillation and Treadmill
Stuart RosenbushChicago, Illinois, United States Artist’s statement “Treadmill” tries to serve as a metaphor for human experiences, with varying paths and roads, ups and downs and surprises. “Defibrillation” is a pictorial representation of a disruptive, abnormal heart beat, triggering a potentially fatal, irregular heart rhythm—which is successfully restored to normal by an electrical discharge.…
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Saving hearts and art
Maria Serratto-BenvenutoRiccardo BenvenutoChicago, Illinois, United States In 1960 a girl was born in the small commune of Mele, some 25 miles from Genoa. She had a heart murmur and her skin was blue. The doctors in Italy declared her condition inoperable, and according to the practice of the time she was confined to her bed.…
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History of endocarditis
Ramin SamCalifornia, United States Until the advent of the 19th century there had been autopsy reports of patients who may had suffered from infective endocarditis, but little was known of the disease and there had been no description of it.1 By the beginning of the 20th century, however, infective endocarditis had become a well described…
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Paul Dudley White
Philip R. LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States In September 1955 President Dwight Eisenhower suffered a myocardial infarction. Dr. Paul Dudley White (1886–1973) was called in to attend to him. For a time, Dr. White was probably the most famous cardiologist in the US because of his attendance to the president. A noted photograph of him at…
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Samuel A. Levine
Philip R. LiebsonChicago, Illinois, United States In an era where the use of imaging and other technological testing frequently takes the place of bedside diagnosis, it is intriguing to recall the state of cardiovascular diagnosis when the clinician relied on his or her eyes, ears, and hands—with a little help from the stethoscope and electrocardiogram.…