At the beginning of the 19th century, though there had been some ... produced the drug Salvarsan 606 to treat syphilis. This was the first of what became known as ‘silver bullets’ - drugs ...

In 19th century Europe, the infection syphilis was widespread. Syphilitic aortitis, resulting in aortic root dilation and severe aortic valve regurgitation, was quite common. With no good therapy ...