View source for Cor bovinum

{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}
'''Cor bovinum''' refers to a massive [[hypertrophy]] of the [[left ventricle]] of the [[heart]] due to volume overload, usually in earlier times in the context of tertiary [[syphilis]] but currently more often due to [[hypertensive heart disease|hypertensive]] and [[ischaemic heart disease]].

==Pathophysiology==

Due to [[Syphilitic aortitis]] (a complication of tertiary [[syphilis]]) the aortic valve ring becomes dilated.  The free margins of [[valve cusps]] no longer approximate leading to aortic valve insufficiency.  As blood regurgitates into the [[left ventricle]] between each [[Systole (medicine)|systole]], [[volume overload]] ensues and the ventricular wall hypertrophies in an attempt to maintain cardiac output and blood pressure.  The massive ventricle can lead to a heart weighing over 1000&nbsp;grams (the weight of a normal heart is about 350&nbsp;grams), referred to as "Cor Bovinum" [Latin for cow's heart.]<ref>Kumar, V ''et al.'' Robbins and Colran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 7th ed</ref>

Fluri and Gebbers<ref>Fluri S, Gebbers JO, [Cor bovinum: decreased incidence over the last 20 years - a therapeutic success?] Schweizerische Rundschau fur Medizin Praxis. 90(45):1964-72, 2001 Nov 8 [article in German] PubMed ID=11817240</ref> define cor bovinum as a heart exceeding 500 g in weight. Looking through autopsies on Internal Medicine patients at the Kantonsspital Luzern, they found 415 cases out of 1181 autopsies in the two periods 1978-81 and 1997-2000. Cor bovinum was found in 25.3% of cases in the earlier period, with mean age at death 67.7 years, and in the later period 20.6% with mean age 74.3 years. The male female ratio was 4:1. "In 93% of all patients with CB, we found coronary atherosclerosis as a sign of high blood pressure and in 79% a COPD."

In 84% of cases the cause of death was directly related to the cor bovinum, but in 37% the cause of death was still unclear. They concluded that cor bovinum was a decreasing but still frequent autopsy finding. High blood pressure, COPD and male sex were the main risk factors. The decreasing incidence was ascribed to improved medical management: they mention treatments for high blood pressure and coronary artery disease, which suggests that "COPD" in their abstract refers to the latter.

==Rare Synonyms==
A Medline search in January 2008 of articles published since 1950 revealed seven articles on "cor bovinum" (in the earlier part of this period only the titles could be searched), of which only one was in English. A search for dictionary-reported synonyms revealed no mention of "bucardia," and all 101 articles mentioning "ox heart" related to oxen.

==See also==
* [[Cardiomegaly]]
* [[Left ventricular hypertrophy]]
* [[Syphilitic aortitis]]
* [[Ventricular hypertrophy]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Heart diseases}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cor Bovinum}}
[[Category:Cardiology]]
[[Category:Sexually transmitted diseases and infections]]
[[Category:2Fix]]