Valsalva, a pupil of Malpighi and teacher of Morgagni, is best remembered for his work upon the ear, in which he described and depicted its most minute muscles and nerves. He divided the ear into “external”, “middle”, and “internal”; his method of inflating the middle ear (Valsalva’s maneuver) is still practiced. The book includes a description of “Valsalva’s dysphagia”.

Valsalva described the aortic “sinus of Valsalva”.