The heart has long been associated with the very nature of humanity. As long ago as the fourth century ВС, Aristotle considered it to be the seat of the soul, the centre of nutrition and the vital source of heat. The very word 'heart' is still deeply embedded in our language in phrases such as 'heart-felt sympathy heart-to-heart talk', or 'the heart and soul of the party', no doubt reflecting its central location in the body and its regular beat. It is also associated with many emotional sensations, so heart disorders hit at the very core of a person's fabric and psyche