[The beginning of Mexican cardiology in the springtime of the Mexican National Academy of Medicine].

The National Academy of Medicine was founded 141 years ago during the French intervention. Under the sponsorship of this brand-new medical association, Mexican cardioangiology took its first steps in the medical and surgical field as well. After the falling of the second empire, the medical and surgical advances of this discipline continued.

[On the evolution of scientific thought].

The Nominalists of the XIV century, precursors of modern science, thought that science's object was not the general, vague and indeterminate but the particular, which is real and can be known directly. About the middle of the XVII Century the bases of the modern science became established thanks to a revolution fomented essentially by Galileo, Bacon and Descartes. During the XVIII Century, parallel to the development of the great current of English Empiricism, a movement of scientific renewal also arose in continental Europe following the discipline of the Dutch Physicians and of Boerhaave.

[From the medieval hospitals hospices to modern National public Health Institutes].

Since the most ancient times, hospital constructions and progresses in the clinical practice advanced pari passu. We can find exampless of this statement in Greek regions as well as in Greek citie overseas. Thus, during the renaissance, great figures ot that time converged in Italy: The genius Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) and Leon Battista Alberti (1404-1472), a humanist and innovator of architecture.

[Cardiology in the Morgagni's anatomo pathological work].

In the XVIII century, under the influence of the "systematic spirit", characteristic of the Enlightenment age, pathological anatomy was systematized in the Morgagni's fundamental treatise De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagatis, published as letters in 1761. Certain biographical data of the author are reported here as well as some his more important contributions to cardiology such as the Morgagni's, Adams', Stokes' syndrome. His points of view on sudden death and his observations on post-infarct myocardial rupture, are related also.

[The tobacco in the light of history and medicine].

Super trajectory is reported of tobacco from his first meeting with the European man October 15, 1492. This plant was known in Europe by the publications of the Sevillan physician Nicolas Monardes (1574), the relations of friar Andrés Thevet (1575) and the famous botanical treatise of Charles de l'Écluse (1605). The Swedish botanist Karl Linnaeus inclused tobacco plant in the family Solanaceae and deleted from this group other plants that were intermixed with it.

[Contributions of the Mexican electrovectorcardiography].

We narrate the main stages of the long journey that led to the structuring of modern electrovectorcardiography based on the fundamentals established by Willem Einthoven (1860-1927), who held the physiology chair of the Leyden University (The Netherlands), and presented his string electrocardiograph in 1901. The Mexican electrovectorcardiography became strong thanks to the endeavor of Dr. Demetrio Sodi Pallares, a disciple of F.

[Cardiology was born with the modern medical science].

Modern medical science was born in the post-Renaissance age and began to consolidate towards the middle of the XVII century thanks to physicists, physiologists and biologists, most of whom were direct or indirect pupils of Galileo. The discovery of blood circulation by Harvey is now considered the only progress in physiology at the beginning of the XVII century, comparable to the current advances seen in physical sciences. The history of this exploit could be written from view point of the progressive advance in knowledge.

[Cardiology writings in New Spain and in the first century of the Independent period].

The first writings on cardioangiology found in public and private libraries of New Spain from the xvi century to the first century of the Independent period in Mexico are mentioned. These go from the truly incunabular ones, books printed until the year 1500, to the physiology treatises published by European authors in the xvii and xviii centuries, as well as the cardiology texts from French authors of the first half of the xix century. The writings were depicted in the catalogs of the University library, founded in 1762, as well as in the library of a master builder of the Metropolitan Cathedral of the xvii century and that of a physician of the xviii century, Dr.

[About the origin, evolution and irradiation of Mexican cardiology].

The Mexican cardioangiology started in the nineteen century thanks to first endeavors of surgeons and physicians related to local academies and to School of Medicine, established in 1833 by Dr. Valentin Gómez Farías. Dr.

[The knowledge of animal respiration as a combustion phenomenon].

The different stages leading to knowledge of the phenomenon of animal breathing are going from some writings in Corpus Hippocraticum to Aristoteles' and Galen's works, who considered the heart as the source of the animal heat. Later, Miguel Servet suggested that the inspired air can achieve other functions besides cooling the blood. After that, different explications of the animal heat were raised.

Agreement between ST elevation and late enhancement evaluated by MRI in patients with acute myocarditis.

Background: ECG is widely used in the evaluation of patients with acute myocarditis. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has emerged as the most important imaging tool in the diagnosis of myocarditis. The objective of this study is to determine the agreement between ECG and MRI findings in patients with acute myocarditis.

A saint in the history of Cardiology.

Niels Stensen (1638-1686) was born in Copenhagen. He took courses in medicine at the local university under the guidance of Professor Thomas Bartholin and later at Leiden under the tutelage of Franz de la Boë (Sylvius). While in Holland, he discovered the existence of the parotid duct, which was named Stensen's duct or stenonian duct (after his Latinized name Nicolaus Stenon).

[Cardiac rehabilitation in congenital heart disease].

Pediatric Cardiology is a medical subspecialty that emerged in a systematic manner during the beginning of the 20th century. Throughout time, with the use of several methods we have been able to establish a series of diagnosis, offer surgical treatments and currently we evaluate and analyze the results of such proceedings. In the cardiac rehabilitation programs, children and adolescents are taught to identify the safety limits of their hearts, being able to relate them to their daily effort activities, providing them with a better quality of life and where they learn to live with the limitations that their illness implies.

[On the first studies of electrophysiology].

A historical outline of the evolution of electrophysiology from the eighteenth century is shortly presented. Topics concerning the so called animal electricity starting from the observations on descharges of Torpedo fish until Bolognese Galvani's researches on the frogs are exposed. The points of view of their oppositionists also are examined.

[Ventricular conduction disorder in presence of dead myocardium].

In the presence of an advanced degree left bundle branch block (LBBB) with an extensive "Jumping wave" phenomenon, the septal activation abnormally spreading originates septal electromotive forces of greater duration and consequently more important than normal ones. The coexistence of an inactive anteroseptal myocardium with an advanced degree block causes the phenomenon of "Jumping wave" begins in postero-septal regions. Therefore the external left electrodes see the first ventricular activation fronts moving away and register Q waves.

[Relationship between the ECG and MRI findings in acute myocardial infarction].

Objective: To evaluate the agreement between de ECG leads with ST elevation and the myocardial segments that present myocardial edema in the MRI study, in patients with acute myocardial infarction.

Methods: There were included 91 patients with a first ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with reperfusion therapy during the first 12 hours of onset symptoms, in whom a Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (CMR) was done (mean 3 day after the ischemic event). Among the ECG leads (thoracic circle), there were identified those with ST higher elevation.

[On the vaccination before and after Jenner].

The expression "inoculation" of smallpox was first employed by doctor Emanuel Timone, native of the Greek island of Chios and graduated from the Universities of Padua and Oxford. This method was largely employed in the XVIII century. Nevertheless, in 1798, the English physician Edward Jenner published the results of his observartions and his own experience with "vaccination", i.

[On the actual nomenclature of myocardial infarcts].

Certain criteria are examined for infarctions currents defined as inferior or inferolateral. To do this, certain considerations on the anatomical aspects of isolated and in situ heart are laid out. The topographical relationship of the in situ heart with other adjacent thoracic organs is described.

[On Mexican medicinal plants].

During the XVIII century, two Spanish scientific expeditions arrived here led, respectively, by the naturalist Martín Sessé and by the Italian mariner Alessandro Malaspina di Mulazzo, dependent from the Spanish Government. The members collected a rich scientific material, which was carried to Madrid in 1820. At the end of XVIII century, the Franciscan friar Juan Navarro depicted and described several Mexican medicinal plants in the fifth volume of his "American Garden".