Cardiac Reconstructions

Attempts to reconstruct various parts of the heart started even before the beginning of open cardiac surgery. By the late 1950s and early 1960 s several closed and open procedures had already been described. In that era, several surgeons in Europe and the Americas were particularly prompted to develop various techniques of valve re­ construction because of the lack of acceptable valve prostheses and conduits which have become available subsequently. At that time, several congenital lesions still defied definitive correction, and clinical attempts at left ventricular wall replacement had not yet got under way. A renaissance in different cardiac reconstructive procedures started at the beginning of the 1980s. As the problems relating to valve prostheses became more generally appreciated and the importance of chamber volumes and geometry (atrial or ventricular) was accorded due importance in the long-term follow-up, there was a resurgence of surgical attempts at reconstruction in congenital and acquired cardiac lesions so as to approximate the natural state. At the same time several characteristics of this reconstructive "discipline" became apparent. First, cardiac reconstructive surgery has remained a surgical "art" with a gradually increasing number of interested cardiac surgeons.