Listening to an invisible organ Long before it was an image, a pressure curve, an electrical trace or a stream of numbers on a monitor, the heart was a sound. For centuries a physician had two options: feel the pulse at the wrist, or put an ear against the patient’s chest, with all the awkwardness … Read more
Last updated: October 2026 Author: Michele D. Pierri Reading time: 25–30 minutes Introduction A 78-year-old woman sits in front of me with an echocardiogram showing severe aortic stenosis. She has already decided on a biological valve. Her question is the one every surgeon hears: “How long will it last?” The honest answer usually comes from … Read more
Introduction On September 8, 2026, Circulation published the new American Heart Association scientific statement on infective endocarditis (IE) — the first comprehensive AHA document on the subject since 2015 [1]. Ten years is a long time in endocarditis. The patients have changed over that interval. Cardiovascular prostheses and transcatheter devices are now everywhere, molecular microbiology … Read more