- Email: [email protected]
The Copernicus journey
FIGURE 1. Dr. Ventura (left) and Dr. Barnard (right).
then people escorted him to the offices of the main newspaper for an interview. That night my wife and I attended a faculty dinner where the guests included Dr. Barnard and the president of Costa Rica. Dr. Barnard was very affable and thanked me again for the morning’s translation. We talked briefly about Buenos Aires and a physician from Argentina who had trained in cardiology in South Africa. My opportunity to converse alone with Christiaan Barnard came the next day. I had returned to the hotel from my daily jog when I saw him sitting in the lobby. He gestured for me to come over and we began to reflect about a variety of subjects, ranging from cardiovascular surgery to his favorite subject, women. He spoke about his multiple marriages and the time he spent with Jacqueline Kennedy. He was exactly as I had pictured him in 1967, an engaging personality, somewhat conceited and controversial, and a conversationalist who was very much at ease talking about any subject. As I listened, I also felt that he knew his place in the history of medicine.
I tried to steer the conversation to December 3, 1967; he always steered it back to other matters. I puzzled about this until I realized that he probably had discussed those events a million times. We talked about his interview with the Costa Rican newspaper, the University, and his novels, and especially about the “ladies.” Suddenly, he asked me about my background in medicine, if I knew Rene Favaloro, where I trained, how long I had been in New Orleans, if I knew Alton Ochsner, Argentinean physicians that trained in South Africa, my research. Then the conversation turned to a more serious matter, life and social issues in South Africa. We spoke about life in South Africa, about the issues facing his country and about the circumstances surrounding that landmark day in December 3, 1967. I felt his heartfelt concerns about these issues. At the end of our conversation, I asked if he could sign the photograph taken of us together. He agreed, but was leaving early next morning, so he asked me to send it to South Africa (Figure 1). When I was getting ready to leave, he said with a smile: “Would you believe that today I was told that two ladies wanted to talk to me, so I asked the hotel manager to send them up. I was expecting young women but, to my surprise, they were very old.” I smiled; it was vintage Christiaan Barnard. We exchanged goodbyes and I left. That night, my wife and I were sitting at the bar before dinner when I saw Chris walking up to us. I greeted him and was about to introduce my wife to him when he said with an impish smile, “Hector, I came here to talk to your wife, not to you.” That will be the Christiaan Barnard I will always remember, a pioneer, a charmer, a charismatic, yet conceited, personality with a nice smile, who loved ladies and his country of South Africa. I know that after many years of being a citizen of the world, he will rest in peace where he belongs, in South Africa. He was one of its most famous citizens.
The Copernicus Journey Hector O. Ventura, OPERNICUS was a doctor and a priest, but his C principal MERIT was to become the FIRST as-
tronomer who PROMISEd to unravel the work and the FACET of the planets. He got his inspiration and
From the Department of Cardiology, Ochsner Medical Institutions, New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Ventura’s address is: Ochsner Clinic Foundation, 1514 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, Louisiana. Email: [email protected]. Manuscript received and accepted November 8, 2001. ©2002 by Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved. The American Journal of Cardiology Vol. 89 March 15, 2002
MD
RENEWAL from the goddess CIBIS and the Greeks. He felt EMPOWERed and without hesitation began to PROBE the depths of the celestial world. The RENAISSANCE arrived and the ELITE did not understand his ideas. He inVESTed his life to study this conundrum and PRAISEed God. His detractors used offensive words like MOXCON, RALES, etc. He RECOVERed and not listening to them, he OPTIMEized his calculations and finally PROFILEd the notion that the sun was the center of the universe. 0002-9149/02/$–see front matter PII S0002-9149(01)02356-6
783
Thus, he saved the BEST for last: he persevered and the heliocentric theory prevailed. COPERNICUS: MERIT: FIRST: PROMISE: FACET: RENEWAL: CIBIS: EMPOWER:
PROBE:
CarvedilOl ProspEctive RaNdomIzed CUmulative Survival Trial MEtoprolol Randomized Intervention Trial in Heart Failure Flolan International Randomized Survival Trial Prospective RandOmized MIlrinone Survival Evaluation Flosequinan-ACE inhibitor Trial Randomized EtaNErcept Worldwide EvALuation Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study Enoximone Plus MetoPrOlol In Subjects With AdvancEd Chronic HeaRt Failure Primacor for Optimization of Beta-Blockers Efficacy
784 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY姞
VOL. 89
RENAISSANCE: Randomized Etanercept North AmerIcan Strategy to Study ANtagonism of CytokinEs ELITE: Evaluation of Losartan In The Elderly VEST: VEsnarinone Survival Trial PRAISE: Prospective Randomized AmlodIpine Survival Evaluation MOXCON: MOXonidine for CONgestive Heart Failure RALES: Randomized ALdactone Evaluation Study RECOVER: Research into Enbrel: Cytokine AntagOnism in VEntriculaR Dysfunction OPTIME: Outcomes of a Prospective Trial of Intravenous Milrinone for Exacerbation of Chronic Heart Failure PROFILE: Prospective RandOmized FlosequInan Longevity Evaluation BEST: BEta-blocker Survival Trial
MARCH 15, 2002
then people escorted him to the offices of the main newspaper for an interview. That night my wife and I attended a faculty dinner where the guests included Dr. Barnard and the president of Costa Rica. Dr. Barnard was very affable and thanked me again for the morning’s translation. We talked briefly about Buenos Aires and a physician from Argentina who had trained in cardiology in South Africa. My opportunity to converse alone with Christiaan Barnard came the next day. I had returned to the hotel from my daily jog when I saw him sitting in the lobby. He gestured for me to come over and we began to reflect about a variety of subjects, ranging from cardiovascular surgery to his favorite subject, women. He spoke about his multiple marriages and the time he spent with Jacqueline Kennedy. He was exactly as I had pictured him in 1967, an engaging personality, somewhat conceited and controversial, and a conversationalist who was very much at ease talking about any subject. As I listened, I also felt that he knew his place in the history of medicine.
I tried to steer the conversation to December 3, 1967; he always steered it back to other matters. I puzzled about this until I realized that he probably had discussed those events a million times. We talked about his interview with the Costa Rican newspaper, the University, and his novels, and especially about the “ladies.” Suddenly, he asked me about my background in medicine, if I knew Rene Favaloro, where I trained, how long I had been in New Orleans, if I knew Alton Ochsner, Argentinean physicians that trained in South Africa, my research. Then the conversation turned to a more serious matter, life and social issues in South Africa. We spoke about life in South Africa, about the issues facing his country and about the circumstances surrounding that landmark day in December 3, 1967. I felt his heartfelt concerns about these issues. At the end of our conversation, I asked if he could sign the photograph taken of us together. He agreed, but was leaving early next morning, so he asked me to send it to South Africa (Figure 1). When I was getting ready to leave, he said with a smile: “Would you believe that today I was told that two ladies wanted to talk to me, so I asked the hotel manager to send them up. I was expecting young women but, to my surprise, they were very old.” I smiled; it was vintage Christiaan Barnard. We exchanged goodbyes and I left. That night, my wife and I were sitting at the bar before dinner when I saw Chris walking up to us. I greeted him and was about to introduce my wife to him when he said with an impish smile, “Hector, I came here to talk to your wife, not to you.” That will be the Christiaan Barnard I will always remember, a pioneer, a charmer, a charismatic, yet conceited, personality with a nice smile, who loved ladies and his country of South Africa. I know that after many years of being a citizen of the world, he will rest in peace where he belongs, in South Africa. He was one of its most famous citizens.
The Copernicus Journey Hector O. Ventura, OPERNICUS was a doctor and a priest, but his C principal MERIT was to become the FIRST as-
tronomer who PROMISEd to unravel the work and the FACET of the planets. He got his inspiration and
From the Department of Cardiology, Ochsner Medical Institutions, New Orleans, Louisiana. Dr. Ventura’s address is: Ochsner Clinic Foundation, 1514 Jefferson Highway, New Orleans, Louisiana. Email: [email protected]. Manuscript received and accepted November 8, 2001. ©2002 by Excerpta Medica, Inc. All rights reserved. The American Journal of Cardiology Vol. 89 March 15, 2002
MD
RENEWAL from the goddess CIBIS and the Greeks. He felt EMPOWERed and without hesitation began to PROBE the depths of the celestial world. The RENAISSANCE arrived and the ELITE did not understand his ideas. He inVESTed his life to study this conundrum and PRAISEed God. His detractors used offensive words like MOXCON, RALES, etc. He RECOVERed and not listening to them, he OPTIMEized his calculations and finally PROFILEd the notion that the sun was the center of the universe. 0002-9149/02/$–see front matter PII S0002-9149(01)02356-6
783
Thus, he saved the BEST for last: he persevered and the heliocentric theory prevailed. COPERNICUS: MERIT: FIRST: PROMISE: FACET: RENEWAL: CIBIS: EMPOWER:
PROBE:
CarvedilOl ProspEctive RaNdomIzed CUmulative Survival Trial MEtoprolol Randomized Intervention Trial in Heart Failure Flolan International Randomized Survival Trial Prospective RandOmized MIlrinone Survival Evaluation Flosequinan-ACE inhibitor Trial Randomized EtaNErcept Worldwide EvALuation Cardiac Insufficiency BIsoprolol Study Enoximone Plus MetoPrOlol In Subjects With AdvancEd Chronic HeaRt Failure Primacor for Optimization of Beta-Blockers Efficacy
784 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF CARDIOLOGY姞
VOL. 89
RENAISSANCE: Randomized Etanercept North AmerIcan Strategy to Study ANtagonism of CytokinEs ELITE: Evaluation of Losartan In The Elderly VEST: VEsnarinone Survival Trial PRAISE: Prospective Randomized AmlodIpine Survival Evaluation MOXCON: MOXonidine for CONgestive Heart Failure RALES: Randomized ALdactone Evaluation Study RECOVER: Research into Enbrel: Cytokine AntagOnism in VEntriculaR Dysfunction OPTIME: Outcomes of a Prospective Trial of Intravenous Milrinone for Exacerbation of Chronic Heart Failure PROFILE: Prospective RandOmized FlosequInan Longevity Evaluation BEST: BEta-blocker Survival Trial
MARCH 15, 2002