The Evolution of Cardiac Surgery

This book is the first complete history of the development of heart surgery. Its story ranges from the observations of the ancient Greeks through early efforts to repair heart wounds in the nineteenth century to the extraordinary advances of the present day. Noted heart surgeon Harris B. Shumacker has scoured the vast literature on heart surgery in many languages and has succeeded in untangling the complex strands of a fascinating story. An active and respected participant in the last half-century of this history, Shumacker brings to his narrative an experts insights and a wealth of first-hand experience.
As a backdrop for what is to come, Shumacker surveys the prehistory of modern heart surgery, but his story begins in earnest in the 1920s and 1930s, when the first attempts were made to operate on the heart and adjacent vessels to correct congenital malformations. He describes the early operations on the great vessels and surface of the heart; intracardiac manipulations upon the beating, functioning, and unsupported heart; and operations carried out within the opened heart.
With the meticulous care of a surgeon, Shumacker retraces the incremental growth in our knowledge of the human heart and its repair with clear discussions of each innovative procedure, both the successes and the failures. He pays special attention to clarifying the individual contributions of the many doctors and researchers throughout the world who have played a role in this still-developing story.
Shumacker concludes with the revolutionary developments of contemporary heart surgery: the heart-lung machine, deep hypothermia and circulatory arrest, cardiac support devices, heart transplants, and the artificial heart. Here is a comprehensive history and an important resource for the medical professional and the medical historian.