title: The First Cardiac Operation Using Cardiopulmonary Bypass.
abstract: The first open heart operation ever performed was by Clarence Dennis on April 5, 1951, at the University of Minnesota. For several years he had worked developing a heart-lung machine. The operation was on a young girl considered to have an ostium secundum atrial septal defect, but at the procedure a large ostium primum was identified instead. It could not be repaired, and the child died. The anatomic details of this heart have not been previously presented. For historical purposes, the clinical history, intraoperative course, and pathologic details will be discussed and shown.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Bryan M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Jepson
authors.affiliation: The Jesse E. Edwards Registry of Cardiovascular Disease, St. Paul, Minnesota.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mackay-Bojack
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Electronic address: molle002@umn.edu.
authors.forename: James H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Moller
mesh_terms: D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006344:Heart Septal Defects, Atrial / Q000266:history* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans