Historical Accounts of Congenital Heart Surgery

Abstract

We present historical accounts of congenital heart surgery since the early 1900s, as our specialty evolved from individual heroic efforts into an established and sophisticated surgical specialty with consistent and excellent results. We highlight colleagues and intrepid pioneers who have strived to solve seemingly insurmountable problems during this remarkable journey and celebrate continued success into the 21st century with surgical advances that have resulted in innovative operations, database inquiries, quality measures, new techniques of medical illustration, and the establishment of the Congenital Heart Surgeons’ Society, which has become the leading organization dedicated to congenital heart surgery in North America.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease

“…In the 1970s and 1980s, several surgical innovative procedures were introduced including Fontan surgery, creating a sustainable single-ventricle circulation, and the atrial redirection described by Senning and Mustard, followed by the Jatene or arterial-switch operation for transposition of the great arteries. 2 For children born with perhaps the most severe CHD, hypoplastic left heart syndrome, with Norwood surgery most such children could be offered a long-standing palliation, and the early Norwood hypoplastic left heart syndrome cases are today in their 30s. Many of these procedures were made possible through improved diagnostic procedures including echocardiography by the introduction of interventional catheterizations such as the Rashkind septostomy and by the ability to pharmacologically keep the ductus arteriosus open for prolonged periods of time.…”