Landmarks in the development of coronary artery bypass surgery.

Abstract

For you to find the truth, in the first place, you have to believe in the truth with all your heart and with all your soul, and believing in the truth with all your heart and with all your soul means saying what you think is true wherever and whenever, but, most especially, at the least opportune moment. (…) Whenever wisdom is found in a scientific work, there cannot be the slightest doubt it is passion’s doing, a painful passion much deeper and dearer than simple curiosity. Miguel de Unamuno Since my training as a resident in general surgery at the University Hospital in La Plata, I have been attracted by thoracic surgery. As soon as I graduated, I started traveling every Wednesday 44 miles to the Rawson Hospital in Buenos Aires, where the Finochietto brothers had organized a postgraduate program, mainly to learn lung and esophageal resections. As a resident, I lived in the hospital, where I witnessed the early attempts in thoracic surgery. In 1949, Professor Clarence Crafoord was invited by the head professor, Jose Maria Mainetti, to give lectures and operate on patients in our institution. I was extremely lucky to participate as his second assistant. Crafoord was indeed a master surgeon. I still remember today my happiness at being so close to one of the most important pioneers in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. I was also impressed by his anesthesiologist. With a small machine (he brought his own equipment) and high doses of curare, the operation went smoothly, and certainly we learned enormously. In those days, I thought only about my work and an academic career that I had started earlier as a student assistant professor in anatomy. I was convinced that my future would be connected exclusively to the university, because I realized that teaching …