De motu cordis et aneurysmatibus

work by Lancisi

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June 25, 2026

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Giovanni Maria Lancisi's work, De motu cordis et aneurysmatibus (1728), is a significant contribution to cardiac pathology. In this treatise, Lancisi, an Italian clinician and anatomist, was the first to describe aneurysms of syphilitic origin. He also discussed various causes of heart enlargement. This work, along with his De subitaneis mortibus (1707) on sudden death, advanced the understanding of cardiac conditions. Lancisi was a physician to several popes and is considered the first modern hygienist, known for his work on influenza, cattle plague, and malaria.1

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Giovanni Maria Lancisi
This treatise and De motu cordis et aneurysmatibus (1728; “On the Motion of the Heart and on Aneurysms”), in which he discussed the various causes of heart enlargement and was the first to describe aneurysms of syphilitic origin, markedly contributed to knowledge of cardiac pathology.
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This treatise and De motu cordis et aneurysmatibus (1728; “On the Motion of the Heart and on Aneurysms”), in which he discussed the various causes of heart enlargement and was the first to describe aneurysms of syphilitic origin, markedly contributed to knowledge of cardiac pathology.
Read More