[1896-1996: a century of cardiac surgery. Ludwig Rehn and the first heart surgery].
In 1896 Stephen Paget published his book "Surgery of the Chest", where he affirmed that heart surgery had probably reached the limits of nature for any kind of surgery. This statement followed Billroth's who, few years earlier, sustained that the surgeon who attempted a suture of a wound in the heart was sure to loose forever the consideration of his colleagues. However, that very year of 1896 in Frankfurt, Ludwig Rehn succeeded in suturing a stab wound of a man's heart. By accomplishing this, he not only proved his colleagues wrong, but he made the heart, center of life and site of the soul, accessible to the surgeon, opening the way to what is today cardiovascular surgery.
Zalaquett
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Departamento de Enfermedades Cardiovasculares, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago de Chile.
D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000266:history*; D005858:Germany; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D013536:Suture Techniques / Q000266:history*
1896-1996: cien años de cirugía cardíaca: Ludwig Rehn y la primera operación al corazón.