Pioneers of the Cardiac Sciences

Pradeep Rangappa¹

Department of Intensive Care, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Corresponding Author: Pradeep Rangappa, Department of Intensive Care, Manipal Hospital, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, Phone: +91 9611700888, e-mail: prangap939@gmail.com

How to cite this article: Rangappa P. Pioneers of the Cardiac Sciences. J Acute Care 2023;2(2):96–98.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD), which includes heart disease and stroke, is the world’s leading cause of death, accounting for almost 18 million lives lost annually. World Heart Day, held on 29th September every year, was instituted by the World Heart Federation to spread awareness about CVD among the public. CVD can be controlled or prevented by efforts at the individual level, such as regular physical exercise, having a healthy diet, and avoiding the use of tobacco. These simple measures can cut down mortality associated with CVD by about 80%. On this day, there are worldwide campaigns to encourage heart-healthy living, the objective being a world where heart health is envisioned as a fundamental human right, essential to global health justice. This day also serves to remember the pioneers of cardiac sciences and their path-breaking efforts.

Miguel Servet (Fig. 1) (29^th September 1511–27^th October 1553) from Spain was the first European to describe pulmonary circulation, which he published anonymously in a religious treatise called Christianismi Restitutio. Servet’s discovery contravened Galen’s theory that blood from the right ventricle of the heart passes to the left ventricle through pores in the interventricular septum. Servet showed that blood is pumped forward from the right ventricle toward the lungs for its oxygenation and thereafter is transfused to the left ventricle of the heart. He was convicted for his theological writings, which the Roman Catholic Church believed to be heretical and burnt alive at the stake.

Fig. 1: France, 1977

Jan Evangelista Purkyně (Figs 2 and 3) (17^th December 1787–28^th July 1869) was a Czech Anatomist and Physiologist, accredited with the discovery of the Purkinje cells in 1837, the neuroinhibitory cells of the cerebellum and Purkinje fibers in 1839, the pathway along which electrical impulses from the atrioventricular node are conducted to the ventricles. He is also known for his work on the physiology of the human eye and vision.

Fig. 2: The 150th birth anniversary of JE Purkyně; 1937

Fig. 3: The birth centenary of JE Purkyne, 1987

Rene Theophile Hyacinthe Laennec (Figs 4 and 5) (17^th February 1781–13^th August 1826) was a French Physician and musician. His skill as a flutist led him to invent the stethoscope in 1816, in the form of a hollow, wooden cylinder, while working at the Necker Hospital in Paris. He also coined many modern terms of chest auscultation, like pectoriloquy, rales, and egophony, and described bronchial and vesicular breathing.

Fig. 4: Laennec, 1952

Fig. 5: Transkei, 1992

Eponyms in his name—Laennec’s cirrhosis, Laennec Hamman’s sign, Laennec’s thrombus, Laennec’s pearls

Laennec’s popular quote: ”Do not fear to repeat what has already been said. Men need the truth dinned in their ears many times and from sides. The first rumor makes them pick up their ears, the second registers, and the third enters.”

Christian Doppler (Fig. 6) (29^th November 1803–17^th March 1853) The Doppler effect, which is integral to modern echocardiography, was described by Charles Doppler in 1842. This is the change in frequency and wavelength of a sound as perceived by the observer due to the movement of the source of the sound. This is used to measure blood flow across the heart valves and major blood vessels.

Fig. 6: Christian Doppler; 1992 Austria; 150th anniversary of observation of Doppler effect

Willem Einthoven (Fig. 7) (21^st May 1860–29^th September 1927) was a Dutch doctor and Physiologist. He invented the electrocardiograph (ECG) in the form of a string galvanometer in 1895, a machine so large it required five persons to operate it. He was awarded the 1924 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his contributions to electrocardiography. Einthoven’s triangle, used in the placement of the limb leads of the ECG, is named after him.

Fig. 7: Einthoven; 1993 Netherlands

Sir Thomas Lewis (Fig. 8) (1881–1945), a Welsh cardiologist, was the first to describe the phenomenon of Atrial Fibrillation in his report in the British Medical Journal in 1909. He also identified atrial flutter as a circus movement of the excitability wave at the origin of the great veins.

Fig. 8: Sir Thomas Lewis; 1981 in Mauritius; 1911 ECG machine, comprising a string galvanometer between an arc lamp and a falling plate camera

Paul Dudley White (Fig. 9) (1886–1973), an American physician and cardiologist, discovered the Wolff–Parkinson–White Syndrome, a congenital cardiac preexcitation syndrome, and the Bland Garland White Syndrome, another rare congenital disease due to the anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk.

Fig. 9: Paul Dudley White; 1985 United States of America

Werner Forssmann (Fig. 10) (29^th August 1904–1^st June 1979) was a German physician who conceptualized the procedure of cardiac catheterization. He studied medicine at the University of Berlin, graduating in 1929 at the age of 25 years. The same year, he experimented on himself to conduct the first catheterization of the human heart, although he was forbidden from doing this by his seniors. He passed a ureteral catheter through his own antecubital vein into the right atrium under fluoroscopic guidance. He then walked to the radiology department and had an X-ray taken, showing the catheter in his heart. He lost his job as a result of this feat but went on to receive the Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine in 1956 for his pioneering efforts.

Fig. 10: Werner Frossman; 2006 Germany; 1956 Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology; Forssmann with an X-ray showing catheter in his heart

ORCID

Pradeep Rangappa https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2187-8950

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