title: Origins of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Mayo Clinic.
abstract: Sixty years ago, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, an ambitious group of pioneers, led by Dr John W. Kirklin and supported by a multidisciplinary team of physicians and technicians embarked on a planned series of surgical cases using a heart-lung machine to allow direct visualization of the inside of the opened human heart to repair otherwise fatal congenital intracardiac defects. Their success sparked the beginning of a new era of open-heart surgery. In this historical article, we discuss the contributions of a few key figures of this revolution and also share the story of the first successful cardiac surgery operation using cardiopulmonary bypass performed at Mayo Clinic.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Arman
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arghami
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. Electronic address: jdearani@mayo.edu.
authors.forename: Joseph A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dearani
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Hartzell V
authors.initials: HV
authors.lastname: Schaff
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Puga
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Richard C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Daly
mesh_terms: D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000266:history*; D002309:Cardiology / Q000266:history*; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D006355:Heart-Lung Machine / Q000266:history; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006761:Hospitals / Q000266:history*; D006801:Humans; D008910:Minnesota; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000266:history*
keywords: Kirklin; Mayo Clinic; Mayo heart-lung machine; cardiac surgery; history