Histoire des sciences médicales
-
Biography Historical Article
[Corvisart's aphorisms in cardiology as recorded by Laennec].
The aphorisms which Laennec recorded at the "Hôpital de la Charité" in 1802 ("Anno X") during the lectures given by his master Jean-Nicolas Corvisart were, to a large extent, devoted to cardiology. They illustrate Corvisart's teaching methods and, above all else, they allow to discern his medical conceptions, based on acuteness of semiotic study, on rigour of physical examination, on analysis of signs and their confrontation with anatomical data, thereby opening the era of anatomico-clinical approach and of a novel medicine, which his disciple Laennec was to purse and amplify. Also, they witness to Corvisart's clinical sense and premonition of diseases, including heart diseases, which were to be identified much later on.