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11-09-2010 | Medicina Antiqua

Leonardo da Vinci on atherosclerosis and the function of the sinuses of Valsalva

Auteur: B. Boon

Gepubliceerd in: Netherlands Heart Journal

Excerpt

Although well studied by a medical scholar like Kenneth D. Keele,¹ Leonardo da Vinci’s elaborate study of the heart is not generally known. This article focuses on two of Leonardo’s achievements concerning atherosclerosis and the sinuses of Valsalva.² The first is his post-mortem observation on the degeneration of the vascular system in an old man, an early case history. The second is his discovery of the haemodynamical function of the sinuses of Valsalva in the closure mechanism of the aortic valve. This discovery remained hidden for many centuries, to be confirmed by scientific research not earlier than 1969. His observations will be discussed by showing the evidence: the notes and drawings in Leonardo’s notebooks which he used to keep up as a diary of ideas. …

The English physician Kenneth D. Keele (1909-1987) was a specialist on the subject of Leonardo as a precocious ‘scientist’ and author of many articles and books on Leonardo and the heart. Keele published his first book on Leonardo more than half a century ago (Leonardo da Vinci on movement of the heart and blood, London 1952) and his last shortly before his death (Leonardo da Vinci’s elements of the science of man, New York 1983).

In this context the terms ‘atherosclerosis’and ‘sinus of Valsalva’ are of course anachronistic. The term ‘arteriosclerosis’ (as equivalent of ‘atherosclerosis’) was probably introduced in 1833 and the term ‘sinus of Valsalva’ in 1740. According to KD Keele ‘Leonardo da Vinci’s views on arteriosclerosis’, Med Hist. 1973 Jul;17(3):307 the term ‘arteriosclerosis’ was introduced by JF Lobstein in: Traité d’Anatomie Pathologique, Paris 1829-33, vol. 2, p. 550. The term ‘sinus of Valsalva’ was first used by GB Morgagni, a pupil of Antonio Maria Valsalva (1666-1723), in: De vita et scriptis Antonii Mariae Valsalvae commentariolum, Venice, 1740.

3 Keele 1973, op.cit. (note 1), p. 305.

Ibidem

Keele 1973, op.cit. (note 1), p. 304.

The articles by Bellhouse and his group as well as others are discussed by Robicsek F, ‘Leonardo da Vinci and the Sinuses of Valsalva’. Ann Thorac Surg. 1991;52;328–35, p. 328.

Robicsek 1991, op.cit. (note 13).

The notes and drawings on the aortic valve are reproduced, explained and transcribed in O’Malley CD & Saunders JB de CM. Leonardo da Vinci on the Human Body, New York 1952. The quote is found on p. 264.

For example O’Malley 1952, op.cit. (note 15), pp. 260, 266, 268.

O’Malley 1952, op.cit. (note 15), p. 264.

O’Malley 1952, op.cit. (note 15), p. 266.

O’Malley 1952, op.cit. (note 15), p. 264..\

Cohen HF. De herschepping van de wereld. Amsterdam 2007. An extensive English version will appear in 2009 as How Modern Science Came Into the World. A Comparative History. Chicago 2009.

Harvey W. Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus, Frankfurt 1628.

Wells FC, Clayton M. The Heart of Leonardo. Prestel Publishing, New York (expected in 2009).

Wells FC, ‘Leonardo da Vinci as a Paradigm for Modern Clinical Research’. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2004;127:929-44.

Titel: Leonardo da Vinci on atherosclerosis and the function of the sinuses of Valsalva
Auteur: B. Boon
Publicatiedatum: 11-09-2010
Uitgeverij: Bohn Stafleu van Loghum
Gepubliceerd in: Netherlands Heart Journal
Print ISSN: 1568-5888
Elektronisch ISSN: 1876-6250
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12471-010-0010-3

Bohn Stafleu van Loghum

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