Hand of God

Before he died, Maradona confessed that his famous goal against Britain in the World Cup was indeed aided by his hand; it was an illegal goal. But this was before instant replay, and who is to say what team would not engage in sleight of hand if granted the opportunity to win the Cup? Billy, a British lad who saw the game live, became crestfallen after his team’s loss, and promised to himself that he would forever use his hands to save people. He becomes a world-renown thoracic surgeon and gained expertise in TEER (transcatheter edge-to-edge repair) of the tricuspid valve. In this minimally invasive protocol, clips are applied to narrow the size of the cusps and diminish valve regurgitation, the heart murmur becomes nearly inaudible. As it happens, Billy meets an Argentine belle on a blind date and falls madly in love. He is surprised the following day when she appears in his OR for a tricuspid valve replacement; her septal cusp is defective. Before going under, Billy mutters to her, “you make my heart skip a beat, like a coronary artery spasm” (everyone knows heart surgeons are not very romantic). But Billy does fix the septal cusp and the couple lives happily ever after (after all, their connection started as a fairy tale). But, where is the septal cusp found in these images of heart sections?

Septal cusps are found at which indicated location?