title: Revisiting the Baffes operation: its role in transposition of the great arteries.
abstract: Thomas Baffes developed one of the first operations for transposition of the great arteries directing inferior vena cava flow to the left atrium using an interposed homograft in the era before open heart surgery. He performed 117 Baffes operations from 1953 to 1960, with 30% overall mortality, and an additional 85 Baffes procedures before 1968, allowing many to survive until the atrial baffle operations. During the early days before hospitals had cardiopulmonary bypass machines, Tom Baffes and colleagues purchased a heart-lung machine and transported it to various Chicago hospitals to treat patients and stimulate interest in this emerging technology.
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Children's Heart Surgery, Florida Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida. Electronic address: constantine.mavroudis.md@flhosp.org.
authors.forename: Constantine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mavroudis
authors.affiliation: Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Carl L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Backer
authors.affiliation: Johns Hopkins Children's Heart Surgery, Florida Hospital for Children, Orlando, Florida.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Siegel
authors.affiliation: Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gevitz
mesh_terms: D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000266:history*; D006355:Heart-Lung Machine / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D010819:Physician's Role; D014188:Transposition of Great Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D014481:United States
keywords: 21; 3