The lost page of the history of the USSR cardiology: Moscow professors Ya.G. Etinger (1887–1951) and V.E. Nezlin (1894–1975)
Keywords:
history of cardiology, doctors’ case, rheumatism and heart disease, electrocardiography, Ya.G. Etinger, V.E.Nezlin,S.E. KarpaiAbstract
The article discusses the scientific contributions and tragic fates of prominent Moscow cardiologists and professors, Ya.G. Etinger and V.E. Nezlin. Etinger's book on electrocardiographic diagnosis of acute coronary artery thrombosis, small-focal, and recurrent myocardial infarction, as well as his clinical work on rheumatic heart disease and rheumatic peritonitis, are considered classical and high-priority works. Nezlin's books focused on the pathology and clinical approach to rheumatism, the diagnostic possibilities using electrocardiographic methods, and the clinical electrocardiographic investigation of coronary heart disease, providing scientific and practical guidance for several generations of Soviet doctors. His monograph, "Rheumatic Heart Disease" (1968), marked a shift towards instrumental diagnosis and a new understanding of heart defects as primarily a surgical problem.
Etinger was closely associated with Nezlin and Sofia Karpai, a renowned expert in electrocardiography. Unfortunately, in the late Stalin era, Etinger, Nezlin, and Karpai became linked to a tragic episode in the "Doctors' Case," where they were arrested by the KGB and later rehabilitated after Stalin's death. The authors conclude that the scientific and medical expertise of Etinger and Nezlin places them among the leading cardiologists of the 1940s to 1960s, a period during which clinical cardiology emerged as an independent scientific and educational discipline.
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