Key result
Historical texts reveal Avicenna recognized AF early by linking an irregular pulse to cardiac tremor.
Historical review highlighting that descriptions of cardiac arrhythmias existed long before modern medicine, potentially dating back to antiquity and Avicenna.
Does not alter current AF management; extends the documented history of arrhythmia recognition to medieval Persia.
Physicians have been mesmerized by a beating heart and its relationship to the peripheral pulse since the ancient times. Although William Harvey in 1628 was credited as the first to describe "fibrillation of the auricles," chaotic irregularity of the pulse was acknowledged by some as early as in the antiquity. In fact, a close examination of history may reveal a description of cardiac arrhythmias long before the era of modern medicine.
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A 2018 study conducted a review in Atrial fibrillation. Historical texts reveal that the Persian scholar Avicenna provided one of the earliest descriptions of atrial fibrillation, recognizing the relationship between an irregular pulse and cardiac tremor.
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