The evolution of cardiac electrophysiology in the XIX century: historical highlights.

The present technical-historical article presents the XIX century developments of different epistemological pathways of cardiac electrophysiology, focusing on various historical highlights of the period on experimental electrocardiography, the anatomical and physiological investigation of the cardiac conduction system, and the study and description of clinical, electrical and mechanical pathological cardiac pictures. This brief overview of cardiac electrophysiology evolution is here proposed with the purpose of backdating to the nineteenth century the experimental and clinical roots of this discipline, which is often considered as an exclusively XX century achievement. Following the evolution of cardiac electrophysiology through time different and various epistemological pathways may be identified. This work discusses XIX century developments of some of these tracks, beginning with the identification of the bases of electrocardiography in the eighteen hundreds.