A Tale of Coronary Artery Disease and Myocardial Infarction

Abstract

The remarkable facts, that the paroxysm, or indeed the disease itself, is excited more especially upon walking up hill, and after a meal; that thus excited, it is accompanied with a sensation, which threatens instant death if the motion is persisted in; and, that on stopping, the distress immediately abates, or altogether subsides; have . . . formed a constituent part of the character of Angina Pectoris. 1 " R emarks on Angina Pectoris" by John Warren, M.D., appeared in 1812 as the first article in the first issue of The New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery. 1 Warren's description of angina pectoris (derived from the Latin angina, "infection of the throat"; from the Greek , "strangling"; and from the Latin pectus, "chest") is equally apt for physicians and medical students today. At the time, the pathogenesis was unknown, and treatment consisted of bloodletting, a tincture of opium, bed rest, or a combination thereof. In 1799, Caleb H. Parry speculated that Syncope Anginosa was related to coronary-artery ossification (i.e., calcification), occurring predominantly in men at about 50 years of age and rarely in women or children. Cardiovascular science emerged in the physiological era of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, first in Europe and subsequently in North America. To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the New England Journal of Medicine, our essay focuses on the themes of coronary artery disease and myocardial infarction to highlight the interplay between science and medicine, emphasizing how the remarkable advances in our understanding of the pathogenesis of heart disease have produced life-saving and life-extending therapies.