The phyllotaxis of the aortic valve

Abstract

Biological systems ubiquitously and inevitably exhibit stochasticity in traits from the molecular level to the multicellular and morphological level. However, there are several examples of natural events that might be described in mathematical terms. Plants grow in a structured and geometric way to maximize their sun exposure for photosynthesis while reducing the stress. The ‘Fibonacci sequence’ and its ‘golden ratio’ are considered a mathematical regularity and model that is one of the corner-stone of the ‘phyllotaxis’, the part of the botany that studies how plants branch. Nevertheless, we currently do not know if such mathematical model can be applied to humans. Different authors have hypothesized that ‘fractal’ might be identified along with the ‘golden-ratio’ in the human body (coronary artery, heart valves etc.). The aortic valve and the aortic root might represent an interesting model of human fractal geometry, where the phyllotactic rules can be reasonably applied, and where deviation from normality might results in dysfunction. However, in the absence of scientific validations, such report represents only the authors’ perceptions of a beautiful shape.