Andreas Vesalius: Celebrating 500 years of dissecting nature

December 31st, 2014 marked the 500-year anniversary of the birth of Andreas Vesalius. Vesalius, considered as the founder of modern anatomy, had profoundly changed not only human anatomy, but also the intellectual structure of medicine. The impact of his scientific revolution can be recognized even today. In this article we review the life, anatomical work, and achievements of Andreas Vesalius

Galileo Galilei: Science vs. faith

Galileo Galilei (1564\u20131642), professor of mathematics at the University of Padua from 1592 to 1610, was a pillar in the history of our University and a symbol of freedom for research and teaching, well stated in the university motto \u2018\u2018Universa Universis Patavina Libertas\u2019\u2019 (Total freedom in Padua, open to all the world).1 He invented the experimental method, based on evidence and calculation (\u2018\u2018science is measure\u2019\u2019) and was able, by using the telescope, to confirm the Copernican heliocentric theory, a challenge to the Bible. Bertrand Russell (1872\u20131970), in his book \u2018\u2018The Problems of Philosophy\u2019\u2019 stated: \u2018\u2018Almost everything that distinguishes modern world from earlier centuries is attributable to science, which achieved the most spectacular triumphs in the seventeenth century. Together with Harvey, Newton and Keplero, Galileo was a protagonist of this scientific revolution in the late Renaissance\u2019\u2019. His life was a continuous struggle to defend science from the influence of religious prejudices. He was catholic, forced by the Inquisition to deny his views, and was condemned to home arrest for the rest of his life. Here is the history of his life, a pendulum between science and religious beliefs

Is arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy a paediatric problem too?

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a heart muscle disease that is often familial, characterized by arrhythmias of right ventricular origin, due to transmural fatty or fibrofatty replacement of atrophic myocardium. ARVC is usually diagnosed in the clinical setting between 20 and 40 years of age. The disease is seldom recognised in infancy or under the age of 10, probably because the clinical expression of the disease is normally postponed to youth and adulthood. This review focuses its attention to the pediatric age, defined as the period of life raging from birth to 18 years. During this span of life, ARVC is not so rare as previously supposed and can be identified by applying the same diagnostic criteria proposed for the adult. Ventricular arrhythmias range from isolated ventricular arrhythmias to sustained ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation. Children and adolescents with ARVC must be carefully evaluated and followed-up especially when a family positive history is present, taking into account the high probability during this life-period that asymptomatic affected patients become symptomatic or that arrhythmias worsen during follow-up. The recent identification of the first defective gene opens new avenues for the early identification of affected subjects even when asymptomatic.peer-reviewe

Cardiocentrism in ancient medicines

History of cardiology starts scientifically in 1628, when William Harvey (1578-1657) published his revolutionary book Extercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus, where he described "general" circulation, movements and functions of heart, heart valves, veins and arteries. Consequently, all theories and practices of ancient medicines were reduced to superstitions. Historians relegated pre-Harveian cardiology to roughs notes, preventing a proper historical evaluation of many centuries of conceptions and practices. All the ancient civilizations shared the conviction that the heart was the biological and spiritual center of the body, the seat of emotions, mind, will, a vital energy produced by breathing and healing, and the soul. This cardiocentric view maintained a special role both in religion and in medicine across millennia from east to west, passing over cultural and scientific revolutions. Here, we will try to give a schematic account of medical beliefs on the heart from the most important pre-classic medicines. Some of them today show to have a kernel of truth. This demonstrates, at least, that history is a non-linear process and that intuitions or even truths, potentially useful for the present and scientific development, can re-emerge from the past

745-4 Sudden “Arrhythmic” Death in Young People with Apparently Normal Heart

The aim of the present study was to assess whether and how often the ultimate diagnosis of structural heart disease underlying sudden cardiac arrest depends on histologic examination of the myocardium and specialized conduction system. Among 186 cases of consecutive sudden cardiovascular death in young people (≤35 yrs) studied from 1979 to 1994, in 59 (32%) gross examination failed to show any cardiac cause of sudden death such as obstructive coronary atherosclerosis, congenital coronary anomaly, cardiomyopathy, valve disease and aortic dissection. The grossly normal heart group consisted of 40 males and 19 females, aged 4–35 yrs (mean 23.7); 27 patients experienced warning symptoms and signs consisting of syncope in 12, ECG abnormalities in 16, and arrhythmias in 11. None had been diagnosed while alive. Detailed histologic study, including examination of ordinary ventricular myocardium as well as serial sections of specialized conduction system, disclosed: 1)focal myocarditis in 17 patients; 2) conduction system abnormalities leading to heart block in 6 patients (sick sinus syndrome in 1, lipomatous discontinuity between the atrial myocardium and the atrioventricular node in 2, sclerotic interruption of His and bundle branches in 2, and longitudinal dissociation of the His bundle in 1). and to ventricular pre-excitation in 15 (atrioventricular by-pass fibers in 9, nodoventricular Mahaim fibers in 4, atriofascicular tract in 1, AV nodal hypoplasia in 1); 3) focal fibrousfatty replacement of the right anterior wall and infundibulum in 5 patients. Sudden death remained unexplained in 16 cases. In conclusion, gross heart features were normal in nearly one third of the young sudden cardiovascular death victims; in 73% of them, however, there was histopathologic evidence of concealed “arrhythmogenic” substrates mostly consisting of conduction system pathology and focal myocarditis

Reply

Section 1 of 1996 CGIAR Annual Report. Section contains "What is the CGIAR" and the table of contents

New Interpretation of Galileo\u2019s Arthritis and Blindness

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) complained of several disorders during his life, the most important of which were chronic arthritic pains and bilateral blindness. These symptoms might result from an immune rheumatic disease, namely reactive arthritis (urethritis, uveitis, arthritis), when Galileo started suffering with an episode of fever in June 1593. Padua University owns the fifth lumbar vertebra of the great scientist and we performed a series of anthropological and radiographic analyses on it. The anthropological measurements showed that the shape of the vertebra was normal as to exclude significant diseases. The study through radiography and Computed Tomography showed only a mild arthrosis documented by small osteophytosis. Eventually the disease evolved into blindness with a pannus restricting the pupils (uveitis). These findings support the occurrence of reactive arthritis. Alternatively to urethral infection, Galileo could have suffered from Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in 1593, which was complicated by reactive arthritis a couple of weeks later. Thereafter he complained several episodes of recurrent arthritis, which eventually culminated into uveitis and bilateral blindness

Intracoronary artery shunt: An assessment of possible coronary artery wall damage

AbstractJ Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2003;125:1160-

A standardized postmortem protocol to assess the real burden of sudden infant death syndrome

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Risk of sports: do we need a pre-participation screening for competitive and leisure athletes?

Sudden cardiac arrest is most often the first clinical manifestation of an underlying cardiovascular disease and usually occurs in previously asymptomatic athletes. The risk benefit ratio of physical exercise differs between young competitive athletes and middle-age/senior individuals engaged in leisure-time sports activity. Competitive sports are associated with an increase in the risk of sudden cardiovascular death (SCD) in susceptible adolescents and young adults with underlying cardiovascular disorders. In middle-age/older individuals, physical activity can be regarded as a ‘two-edged sword': vigorous exertion increases the incidence of acute coronary events in those who did not exercise regularly, whereas habitual physical activity reduces the overall risk of myocardial infarction and SCD. Although cardiovascular pre-participation evaluation offers the potential to identify athletes with life-threatening cardiovascular abnormalities before onset of symptoms and may reduce their risk of SCD, there is a significant debate among cardiologists about efficacy, impact of false-positive results and cost-effectiveness of routine screening. This review presents an appraisal of the available data and criticisms concerning screening programmes aimed to prevent SCD of either young competitive athletes or older individuals engaged in leisure-time sports activit