Structure and function relationships of the helical ventricular myocardial band

Abstract

The classic article on structure and function was written in 1918 by Arthur Keith,^E1 in which he stated that William Harvey realized more fully than any anatomist that structure is a pure guide to function. Harvey was a student of Fabricius in Padua, who studied anatomy to determine the purpose of the various parts of the human body. Harvey fulfilled the terms of a “functional anatomist,” defined by Fabricius, and Keith stated there could be no greater mistake than to condemn these methods. These observations have enormous impact on the cardiac surgeon, because rebuilding the macroscopic structure/function relationship forms the infrastructure for our specialty.