THE BLOOD-VESSELS OF THE HEART VALVES 



STANHOPE BAYNE-JONES 



From the Department of Pathology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 



Maryland 



SIX TEXT FIGURES AND ONE PLATE 



The interest of pathologists in the study of the process of 

 bacterial disease of the heart-valves has stimulated many con- 

 tributions to the knowledge of the anatomy of these structures. 

 It is important for the pathologist to know whether bacteria 

 become localized in the heart-valves by mechanical adherence to 

 their surfaces or by lodgment within the tissite of the valve. 

 The latter view, which served as the basis for K()ster's (1) theory 

 of 'Embolic Endocarditis,' is founded upon the supposition that 

 there are blood-vessels within the valves. Anatomical studies 

 to determine whether or not blood-vessels are present in normal 

 heart-valves have led to such various findings that the subject 

 has been in a state of prolonged controversy. During the past, 

 however, there has been gathered enough positive evidence of 

 vascularity of the valves of the heart to outweigh the negative 

 results of investigators who have failed to find these vessels. 

 The studies to be reported in this paper confirm the work of 

 those who have described the blood supply of the heart-valves 

 and in addition provide histological details of the vascular 

 arrangement not hitherto noted. 



HISTORICAL 



The following critical review of the important writings on the 

 subject of the vascularity of the heart-valves indicates the 

 development of the controversy: 



Luschka (2) was the first pathological-anatomist to state 

 that blood-vessels occur in the heart- valves. In 1852 he pub- 

 lished an article illustrated with pictures of valves after injec- 



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