TheCommentary on Anatomy in Avicenna's Canon is a work written in the 13th century by the Arab physicianIbn al-Nafis. A manuscript of the work was discovered in 1924 in the archives of thePrussian State Library inBerlin, Germany.[1] It contains the earliest descriptions of thecoronary circulation andpulmonary circulation systems.[1] The manuscript records Ibn Nafis' prediction of the existence of thecapillaries which he described as perceptible passages (manafidh) between pulmonary artery and pulmonary vein. These passages would later be identified byMarcello Malpighi as capillaries.[2][3]
The work was translated into Latin by the Italian physicianAndrea Alpago,[4] In 1520, Alpago returned toPadua with a Latin translation of the commentary, after living in theArabian Peninsula for 30 years.[5]
Here,Ibn Nafis described for the first time and in detail how the blood comes to theleft ventricle not through the septum, but from theright ventricle (RV) through thepulmonary artery, lungs, and thepulmonary vein. He also first described the presence and function of thecoronary circulation.
When he (Ibn al-Nafis) was only 29, he published his most important work, theCommentary on Anatomy inAvicenna's Canon, which included his ground-breaking views on the pulmonary circulation and heart
"It is possible that Al-Nafis' book was known in 16th century Europe, for Andrea Alapago returned from thirty years in Arabia to Padua in 1520 with a Latin translation of the commentary