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 fate of prominent Moscow professors and cardiologists, Ya.G. Etinger and V.E. Nezlin. Etinger's work, particularly his book on electrocardiographic diagnosis of acute coronary artery thrombosis, small-focal and recurrent myocardial infarction, as well as his clinical research on rheumatic heart disease and rheumatic peritonitis, is considered classical and highly significant. Nezlin’s books focused on the pathology and clinical approach to rheumatism, the diagnostic potential of electrocardiographic methods, and clinical electrocardiographic investigation of coronary heart disease, serving as scientific and practical guides for several generations of Soviet doctors. His 1968 monograph, “Rheumatic Heart Disease,” marked the transition to instrumental diagnosis and a new understanding of heart defects as primarily a surgical issue.
Etinger’s close colleagues included Nezlin and Sofia Karpai, a renowned expert on electrocardiography. In the late Stalin era, Etinger, Nezlin, and Karpai became tragically involved in the “Doctors’ Case,” a political episode where they were arrested by the KGB for serving Kremlin medical purposes, but were later rehabilitated after Stalin’s death. The article concludes that the scientific and medical expertise of Etinger and Nezlin positions them among the leading cardiologists in the Soviet Union during the 1940s to 1960s, a period when clinical cardiology emerged as an independent scientific and educational discipline.
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