Eur J Cardiothorac Surg 2006;29:S1
© 2006 Elsevier Science NL
Rethinking the cardiac helix: a structure/function journey
Gerald Buckberg, Guest Editor
*
Option on Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology, 1200 East California Blvd., Pasadena, California, USA
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 62-258 Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1701, USA
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 310 206 1027; fax: +1 310 825 5895. (Email: gbuckberg{at}mednet.ucla.edu).
The participants of the special issue are grateful to the L.B. Research and Education Foundation for providing an educational grant to distribute new basic science knowledge that combines the Liverpool Symposium ‘The New Concepts of Cardiac Anatomy and Physiology’ on May 28, 2005, with expanded information about Rethinking the Cardiac Helix—A Structure/Function Journey.
The participants are also thankful for the L.B. Research Foundation support of each RESTORE meeting. This special issue contains the new information from the 10th meeting on April 9, 2005 in San Francisco, and conveys the ‘ from bench to bedside’ concept that underlies the RESTORE objectives.
The interrelationship of cardiac form and function explains normality, defines how disease creates disharmony, and underlies the hypothesis of regaining order by restoring normality.
The final report ‘Stonehenge and the Heart: Similar Construction’ expands the form and function interaction. This uniformity concept relates to the Leonardo da Vinci observation that ‘finding commonality outlines how the otherwise absurd goal of universal understanding became thinkable’.
