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Ann Thorac Surg 1997;63:1213-1214
© 1997 The Society of Thoracic Surgeons

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Correspondence

Mitral Valve Blunt Trauma

Klinik für Thorax- und Kardiovaskularchirurgie, Heinrich Heine Universität, Moorenstraße 5, Postfach 101007, Düsseldorf 40001, Germany

To the Editor:

With interest I read the current review entitled "Mitral Valve Injury After Blunt Chest Trauma" by McDonald and associates [1]. They found only 23 reported cases of operative correction. This is due to the fact that they reviewed only some American journals, neglecting the literature of the rest of the world.

I would like to give them knowledge of the following articles, just as a demonstration that it may be worthwhile to look at the foreign national and international literature while giving a review [2, 3].

"Honni soit qui mal y pense"!

References

1. McDonald ML, Orszulak TA, Bannon MP, Zietlow SP. Mitral valve injury after blunt chest trauma. Ann Thorac Surg 1996;61:1024–9.[Abstract/Free Full Text]
2. Bircks W, Gleichmann U, Loogen F. Mitralinsuffizienz durch stumpfes Thoraxtrauma. Z Kreislaufforschung 1966;55:689–97.[Medline]
3. Bircks W, Körfer R. Traumatic mitral incompetence: long-term results in three patients. J Cardiovasc Surg 1978;19:557–61.[Medline]

Reply

Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St Sw, Rochester, Mn 55905

To the Editor:

I thank Prof Bircks for bringing to my attention the two articles he authored on the topic of mitral valve injury after blunt chest trauma. I cannot explain how the article in the Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery was missed in our Medline literature search. It was truly an oversight on our part. I must, however, say that there is no listing in the Medline of his second reference in the Zeitschrift für Kreislaufforschung, even when looking with authors or journal search modes. That oversight he will have to take up with the authors of the Medline listing.

I realize it is important to acknowledge pioneers and predecessors in medicine, and it is truly without malice if this omission occurs. It was not intentional. I do find it interesting that the article in the Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery has no attributable references.

Professor Bircks' assessment of the biased references is somewhat in error in that there are four references from around the globe. One is from Formosa (reference 39) and three are from Europe (references 8, 26, and 36). I am an active member of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and support that meeting with attendance and abstracts and the journal with publications. I also review articles for other European and Asian journals. I wholeheartedly support and read literature from around the world and try to the best of my ability to acknowledge them.

I find Prof Bircks' accusation, displayed by the quotation at the end of his letter, "Honni soit qui mal y pense," which translated states "Shame on him who evil thinks," a bit strong. It is unfortunate that he did not attribute it to its author. Perhaps my best responses are two quotations from Sir Thomas Browne (1605–1682), English physician and writer: "No man [person] can justly censure or condemn another, because indeed no man [person] truly knows another. Further, no man [person] can judge another because no man [person] knows himself [themself]" (Religio Medici, 1643).

"Tis as dangerous to be sentenced by a Physician as a Judge" (Letter to a friend).

Author's Reply

Klinik für Thorax- und Kardiovaskularchirurgie, Heinrich Heine Universität, Moorenstraße 5, Postfach 101007, Düsseldorf , 40001 Germany

To the Editor:

First of all, it was not my intention to accuse anybody. Doctor Orszulak's impression is following a wrong translation of the proverb "Honni soit qui mal y pense."

This proverb is the motto of the famous English "Order of the Garter," which is the highest order of the United Kingdom, established in 1350 by King Eduard III. The correct translation of the motto (proverb) is: "A rogue (scoundrel, rascal) shall be, who thinks badly about it." So, I hope Dr Orszulak will no longer feel accused "a bit strong."

In my opinion it is regrettable that Medline does not include the Zeitschrift für Kreislaufforschung; after this journal changed its name (it is now Zeitschrift für Kardiologie) it was included. This is a mistake in the Medline system.

The Zeitschrift für Kreislaufforschung has been the official Journal of the national Deutsche Gesellschaft für Kreislaufforschung (German Society for Cardiovascular Research, founded in 1928; it has changed the name to German Society for Cardiology, following the modern international mode). The Zeitschrift was listed in current indices all the time.

Again: "Honni soit qui mal y pense."

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