I wanted to start pathologically: “At the end of the last century...”, but no more pathos! A little more than 20 years ago, I do not know why I chose “Menkeberg's heart defect” as the subject of my dissertation. Perhaps the name itself was intriguing, although – God knows! - I had no idea at that time what a whirlwind of events and discoveries the study of this frequent and at the same time unknown to my compatriots would take me into.

Years would pass, and to the question “What is your specialty?”, I would answer with my head held high: “Therapist”. And I will give lectures all over the country about pneumonia and anemia, about chronic kidney disease and systemic lupus erythematosus, about joint pain and pain in the right subcostal region. Because the Therapist needs to know everything from gliosis of the brain to amyloidosis of the kidney. However, the most favorite will be the lectures on heart disease: malformations, heart failure, bacendocarditis, undiagnosed myocarditis, demonized cholesterol, etc.

And every time I see how tenaciously and carefully the doctors in the audience record (in memory and on paper) every detail. Because there are a lot of cardiology patients at their appointments. And no advice is superfluous. Turn the page and – on your way! This issue, with which we open the “second year of life” of our journal, is dedicated to the eternal laborer – our heart.

Prof. I.V. Egorov