Cardiothoracic Surgery in China: Past, Present and Future

Abstract

FigureMany interesting stories in this book tell how Chinese cardiothoracic surgery developed from its embryonic stage to maturity or to the present status after overcoming numerous difficulties which were partly due to the political and socioeconomic conditions. To the present, the prevailing techniques for cardiothoracic surgery in China are comparable to those in many developed countries. Interestingly, 15 of the 37 contributors to this book are from other countries, predominantly from the USA, who witnessed or contributed to the development of cardiothoracic surgery in China. All of them are world-known experts and leaders in the field of cardiothoracic surgery in different periods of time. In the four sections of the book, the prologue is an indispensable part where stories of outstanding surgeons tell. Drs. Ying-Kai Wu and Jia-Si Huang among them were the pioneers of cardiothoracic surgery in China. Wu was the first to perform a thoracic surgery in this country. Wu and Huang not only worked hard to refine the operative techniques, but also made every effort to disseminate knowledge about prevention of cardiothoracic diseases including esophageal cancer and pulmonary diseases to the public and to train younger cardiothoracic surgeons in China. Huang was once honored with the “World Outstanding Medical Educator” award in 1979 at the American Medical Association's 75th Congress on Medical Education. Worked as a battlefield surgeon during the Anti-Japanese War in China, Norman Bethune, a Canadian, was recognized as a hero for the Chinese people to follow. His contributions to and deeds in rescuing the wounded soldiers were acclaimed by late Mao Tse-dong in his writing In memory of Norman Bethune. His selflessness, hard working, and internationalism inspire and encourage the Chinese people generation by generation, especially doctors and nurses to provide better services for the wounded and patients. One of his great contributions was the establishment of mobile surgical unit or mobile operating theatre, which saved lives of many wounded soldiers in the war against the Japanese invaders. His innovation was of practical use not only during the war, but also many years later, especially for the medical teams sent to rural areas. The sections 1 and 2 give a detailed account of the development of cardiothoracic surgery ever since 1945 and the current status of its subspecialties, including achievements in the fields relevant to cardiothoracic surgery, e.g., cardiology, electrophysiology, interventional cardiology, gene and genomic studies, cell therapy, etc. Section 3, Forging Global Links, which is of special interest for reading, depicts the evolution of cardiothoracic surgery and its subspecialties under the international support and cooperation. Articles in this section describe vividly how Chinese cardiothoracic surgeons of generations were trained in western countries, for instance in the United States, how a few foreign cardiothoracic surgeons did their work in China, and how Chinese and western cardiothoracic surgeons worked together for a better health of the patient. In this way, modern techniques and methods for the treatment of cardiac or pulmonary diseases were introduced into China via apprenticeship learning. However, the expertise of Chinese cardiothoracic surgeons might also be useful to their foreign colleagues, even to those in some developed countries since diseases like esophageal cancer are not markedly prevalent there. If readers wonder whether there is something special in the development of cardiothoracic surgery in China, this book may give a positive answer, which includes at least the following two. First, great efforts were made by the dedicated pioneers in cardiothoracic surgery to overcome various obstacles including political and socioeconomic embarrassment and lack of resources that made the surgeons to produce or modify by themselves the existing instruments or devices to meet the requirements of cardiothoracic operations. Second, acupuncture anesthesia which once triggered considerable debate internationally, in carefully selected patients, showed astonishingly good efficacy and safety. Many photographs in this book are of historical value since they have never been published in any occasion. This book is meaningful to cardiothoracic surgeons as well as those who are working in other specialties and subspecialties and are interested in understanding the history, the present status, and the trends of development of cardiothoracic surgery in China.