title: A Case of Sudden Death in Decameron IV.6: Aortic Dissection or Atrial Myxoma?
abstract: Giovanni Boccaccio's Decameron contains a novella that details the sudden death of a young man called Gabriotto, including a portrayal of the discomfort that the protagonist experienced and a rudimentary autopsy performed by local physicians. The intriguing description of symptoms and pathologies has made it possible to read a 7-century-old case through the modern clinical lens. Thanks to the medical and philological analysis of the text-despite the vast difference between modern and medieval medicine-2 hypothetical diagnoses have emerged: either an aortic dissection or an atrial myxoma.
authors.affiliation: From the University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy (F.T.); College of the Holy Cross, Modern Languages and Literatures, Worcester, MA (G.S.); University of Massachusetts Amherst, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Amherst (M.P.); and University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (F.J.R., F.M.G.).
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Toscano
authors.affiliation: From the University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy (F.T.); College of the Holy Cross, Modern Languages and Literatures, Worcester, MA (G.S.); University of Massachusetts Amherst, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Amherst (M.P.); and University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (F.J.R., F.M.G.).
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spani
authors.affiliation: From the University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy (F.T.); College of the Holy Cross, Modern Languages and Literatures, Worcester, MA (G.S.); University of Massachusetts Amherst, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Amherst (M.P.); and University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (F.J.R., F.M.G.).
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Papio
authors.affiliation: From the University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy (F.T.); College of the Holy Cross, Modern Languages and Literatures, Worcester, MA (G.S.); University of Massachusetts Amherst, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Amherst (M.P.); and University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (F.J.R., F.M.G.).
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Rühli
authors.affiliation: From the University of Siena, Post-Graduate School of Public Health, Siena, Italy (F.T.); College of the Holy Cross, Modern Languages and Literatures, Worcester, MA (G.S.); University of Massachusetts Amherst, Languages Literatures and Cultures, Amherst (M.P.); and University of Zurich, Institute of Evolutionary Medicine, Winterthurerstrasse, Zurich, Switzerland (F.J.R., F.M.G.). francesco.galassi@iem.uzh.ch.
authors.forename: Francesco M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Galassi
mesh_terms: D000784:Aortic Dissection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history*; D001014:Aortic Aneurysm / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history*; D003645:Death, Sudden; D006338:Heart Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history*; D049691:History, Medieval; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008513:Medicine in Literature; D009232:Myxoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history*
keywords: aortic dissection; autopsy; history of medicine; myxoma; sudden death