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Application of arterial hemodynamics to clinical practice: A testament to medical science in London

2017; BioMed Central; Volume: 18; Issue: C Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.artres.2017.03.003

1876-4401

Michael F. O’Rourke, Audrey Adji, Wilmer W. Nichols, Charalambos Vlachopoulos, Elazer R. Edelman,

Cardiovascular Function and Risk Factors

Britain has contributed more than any other nation to the theory and application of arterial hemodynamics.Within England, no city has spawned more ideas in this domain than London, home to University College and this meeting.Isaac Newton was the pioneer.His Principa Mathematica established the principles of physics through quantification of information, and observations, using appropriate mathematical analysis.While Newton's main establishment was at Cambridge, he spent much time in London at meetings of the Royal Society, and in his later life, as Warden of the Mint [1,2].William Harvey in 1628 wrote his famous tome "Exercitatio Anatomica de Motu Cordis et Sanguinis in Animalibus" while Anatomist to the Royal College of Physicians of London [3].His establishment of the circulation was contentious and generated widespread controversy.One subject he championed was wave reflection, not in "de Motu Cordis …", but more fully in later work, principally his Second Open Letter to Jean Riolan [4].He was well aware of wave travel and reflection, but could not confirm whether the pressure wave travelled within the lumen of an artery or along its wall.He described experiments where an artery was occluded with an intraluminal reed.It was left to his followers to confirm that velocity of the arterial pressure wave depended both on the properties of the wall and viscosity of the blood within.But he was emphatic about the importance of wave reflection."For, so soon as you have tied the artery above the reed or tube with a string, the vessel in question promptly dilates heartwards from the end of the reed under the impact of the blood from above.In consequence, the (forward) flow of blood is impeded and its impact is reflected backwards.