Myocardial infarction and angina pectoris in the history of Polish medicine. Part 2. Diagnosis and early attempts at treatment: the 19th and 20th centuries

In the second part of the article, developments following the „discovery” of ischemic heart disease and gaining understanding of its nature have been presented starting from the first intravital diagnoses of myocardial infarction in the history of the world medicine established by Adam Hammer in Austria (1878) and Edward Korczyński in Krakow (1887). The contribution of Polish clinicians at the turn of the XX century to the first modern attempts at elucidating the nature of myocardial infarction based on the knowledge of anatomopathology and physiology prevalent at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century has been described. A special role in understanding pathological mechanisms of myocardial infarction was played by such Polish researchers as Władysław Biegański, Józef Pawiński, Zdzisław Dmochowski, Władysław Antoni Gluziński and Marian Franke. The author has described the beginnings of introducing electrocardiography to the diagnostic evaluation of cardiovascular diseases advocated by Napoleon Cybulski and Józef Latkowski. The discovery of adrenaline by Cybulski and Szymonowicz, an event of great importance in the history of cardiology, as well as the introduction of nitroglycerine to clinical practice by Korczyński soon after the preparation was employed for the first time in the world has been presented. The paper further discusses the rapid development of medical knowledge and therapeutic progress in symptomatic treatment of myocardial infarction within the past fifty years – pharmacotherapy and also early attempts at interventions aiming at restoring blood flow in the occluded infarct‑related artery. While presenting the role of Polish physicians in the history of cardiology, the author recalls the most important world discoveries associated with understanding the nature of myocardial infarction, initial diagnostic and therapeutic attempts.