Hippocrates and cardiology.

BACKGROUND Although Hippocrates has been traditionally recognized worldwide as the father of medicine, the fact that he was seminal in the development of cardiology is much less well appreciated. Therefore his role in forming the foundation of scientific practice of cardiology needs to be defined. METHODS This article was based on a personal 3-day visit in 1999 to the island of Kos, the birthplace of Hippocrates, and further research on the subject on return to the United States. RESULTS Considering the fact that all the references to the heart and diseases of the heart were recorded almost 2500 years ago at a time when knowledge of anatomy was fragmentary and pathophysiology practically nonexistent, Hippocrates had truly accomplished a remarkable task in describing the various disorders of the heart and blood vessels, defining the methods of diagnosis and treatment, and outlining the prognostic factors and preventive measures. CONCLUSIONS Hippocrates was the pioneer in carefully documenting and thoughtfully interpreting case studies, an essential prerequisite to the coupling of clinical, physiologic, and pathologic features of diseases in the practice of cardiology that characterized the beginning of modern scientific medicine in the Renaissance.