Epilogue: The pathologist

Abstract

The pathologist writing an epilogue on postoperative pediatric cardiology reflects in an inverse way on the striking progress that has been made in this field. Mary Allen Engle and Joseph Perloff, who invited me to write this piece, suggested that I concentrate on personal experiences. Thus, I review some experiences of the past 35 years as a pathologist whose work involved the field of congenital heart disease. I shall concentrate on my own experiences and, in doing so, I shall not refer to the specific and significant contributions of others to our present knowledge of the pathology of congenital heart disease. Nevertheless, it would be inappropriate to omit the names of others who, during the period involved, have provided numerous additions to our understanding of the pathologic complexities of the area simply called congenital heart disease. Particular recognition should paid to Maurice Lev, whose work in the field antedates my own. Properly added to Lev’s name are those of Richard Van Praagh, Robert Van Mierop, William Roberts, Jack Titus and Saroja Bharati. In 1946, after almost 4 years of active duty as a pathologist in the Army during and after World War II, I was invited to join the Mayo Clinic staff. Here I found adequate material, a willingness of the institution to aid one in his work and, in particular, an accumulation of people from whom a team, without committee planning, naturally developed. I found those people involved in cardiovascular disease to be generous in sharing their special knowledge and skills with those in other subspecialties, recognizing that interchange of ideas is a stimulus for progress-progress to the point where the total effect is greater than the sum of its parts. Also, the time was ripe for progress.