PRELUDES AND PROGRESS Acute coronary occlusion always results in death or does it ?
نویسندگان
چکیده
FREDRICK WILLIUS, a physician and historian of cardiology, claimed in 1945, "The achievement of scientific progress is irrevocably based on past experiences, not alone on the experience of one generation of scientists but rather on the numerous generations which have been predecessors. " ' The recent introduction of thrombolytic therapy with intracoronary streptokinase for acute coronary occlusion has stimulated renewed interest in the consequences of acute obstruction of the coronary arteries.`> Although Pierre Chirac observed the effects of experimental ligation of the coronary arteries in a dog in 1698, there was little interest in this subject until the closing years of the 19th century.5 In 1893, William T. Porter, a young American physiologist, reported that experimental coronary occlusion in the dog was not always fatal. This observation contradicted the results of other investigators who claimed that ligation of the coronary arteries was followed by cardiac arrest in virtually all instances. The scope and sophistication of Porter's experiments on acute coronary occlusion, performed nearly a century ago, will surely surprise present day clinicians and investigators in the field. His thorough studies of the effects of acute coronary obstruction in experimental animals ultimately had a significant impact on clinical medicine. James B. Herrick's recognition of the clinical syndrome of acute myocardial infarction with survival in man can be traced, in part, to Porter's observations. Porter was born in Plymouth, Ohio, in 1862.6 7 The son of a physician, he entered St. Louis Medical College in 1882. The year Porter matriculated the curricu-
منابع مشابه
Preludes and Progress
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to ignore the dramatic developments that have occurred in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in recent years. ' Borrowing heavily from the physical sciences, new diagnostic instruments have been invented that allow earlier and more precise identification of cardiac disease. Pharmacologic therapy of angina pectoris, dormant for nearly a century after the discovery that...
متن کاملPreludes and Progress
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to ignore the dramatic developments that have occurred in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease in recent years. ' Borrowing heavily from the physical sciences, new diagnostic instruments have been invented that allow earlier and more precise identification of cardiac disease. Pharmacologic therapy of angina pectoris, dormant for nearly a century after the discovery that...
متن کاملPreludes and Progress
THE DRAMATIC advances that have characterized cardiovascular medicine and surgery since World War II have been, in many instances, the result of the clinical application of discoveines or concepts derived from basic scientific research. Those concerned with the care of patients and health care delivery, whether they are physicians, laymen, or legislators, would benefit from an enhanced awarenes...
متن کاملPRELUDES AND PROGRESS Nitroglycerin: a homeopathic remedy
IN A 1905 address on nitroglycerin, a New York physician observed, "It is difficult to explain why certain drugs have come into such general use unless it is a question of fashion as in other things, nor are we right in assuming that their popularity assures their value, much less their permanency. The study of the physiological action of drugs, first upon animals and then upon man, furnishes o...
متن کاملPreludes and Progress
ONE OF THE MOST productive biomedical research departments in the history of mankind was Carl Ludwig's physiologic institute at the University of Leipzig during the final third of the 19th century.1 The pioneering pharmacologist T. Lauder Brunton claimed nearly a century ago, "More than to anyone else since the time of Harvey, do we owe our present knowledge of the circulation to Carl Ludwig."2...
متن کامل