Syphilitic aortitis (Continued)

Abstract

Among the signs that can be picked up by auscultation, the accentuation or metallic timbre of the second aortic sound undoubtedly plays the most decisive role among all the physical signs that can be picked up. The discovery of this phenomenon in syphilitic aortitis is so important that it should not surprise us if it has come to constitute a reason for predilection within experimental investigations. However, this accentuation or, simply, the character of the metallic ring of the second aortic sound not only appears in luetic aortitis, a condition that presupposes a structural alteration of the sigmoid valves, but also in simple arterial hypertension, in which case the aortic sigmoid valves they are not anatomically modified.