Cardiopulmonary auscultation - Duo for strings - Opus 99

In spite of increasing mechanization in medicine and reliance on "high-tech " diagnostic tools, bedside clinical skills of the attending physician can still identify findings that are missed by the more sophisticated devices. Using a stethoscope, we relied on our skills in inspection, palpation, perc ussion, auscultation, as well as echocardiography and phonocardiography to diagnose a patient whose murmur was very reminiscent of the D-sharp pizzica to in the Cello Sonata in F, Opus 99, by Johannes Brahms. Initial echocardi ography was not helpful. We suspected an anomalous chorda and confirmed thi s with phonocardiography and a second echocardiography. Although advances i n cardiac imaging are extremely helpful, the use of simple clinical skills, in addition to being fun, is not obsolete. Cardiopulmonary auscultation sh ould receive more emphasis in the medical school curriculum and clinical tr aining.