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Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2003;24:341-342
© 2003 Elsevier Science NL

Editorial

"Out of nothing comes nothing" versus "Perpetual flux"^ß

Epicurus of Samos (341–270 BCE); ^ßHeraclitus of Ephesus (535–475 BCE)

Editor-in-ChiefDepartment of Cardio-vascular Surgery, Centre Hopitalier Universitaire Vaudois, CHUV, Rue du Bugnon 46, CH-1011 Lausanne, Switzerland

Received 22 June 2003; received in revised form 22 June 2003; accepted 27 June 2003.

^* Corresponding author. Tel.: +41-21-314-2280; fax: +41-21-314-2278
e-mail: ludwig.von-segesser@chuv.hospvd.ch

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

Thoracic and cardio-vascular surgery is perceived as some of the most challenging fields of modern medicine. There are various reasons for this, including the emotional weight the heart has in our daily life, where e.g. the term ‘broken heart’ very well describes some of the feelings we can have. At a very different level is the view, that the heart is housing the soul. This may explain why the term ‘heartless’ is often read as ‘soulless’. Independently of the potential supra-natural qualities of the heart, most of us would agree, that the heart and its branches are vital to the well-being of the body, a situation that is more than evident for thoracic and cardio-vascular surgeons who have experienced the absence of its function, a phenomenon that can be summed up by ‘no heart – no live’.

As a matter of fact, it is the failing, or potentially failing heart and circulation, including both pulmonary and peripheral, which are at . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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