The Texas Heart Institute Anesthesia Experience in China, 1985

Abstract

IN SEPTEMBER 1985, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was still recovering from the Cultural Revolution, a 10-year movement (1966-1976) that isolated it socially, economically, and medically from the rest of the world. 1 Lu J Wang W Cheng W et al. Current status of cardiovascular anesthesia in China. Anesth Analg. 2017; 125: 1855-1862 Crossref PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar ,2 Ramzy, Austin. Mao's Cultural Revolution. New York Times, May 14, 2016https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/world/asia/china-cultural-revolution-explainer.html Google Scholar That year, an executive at an American bank, who was formerly a perfusionist at the Texas Heart Institute (THI), conceived an expedition to the PRC by a THI cardiovascular team. His goal was to demonstrate American cardiac care techniques, monitoring, prosthetics, and perfusion equipment, which he hoped would open a new market for American equipment. The THI, in Houston, Texas, remains an internationally known cardiac surgery center. By 1985 it was the nation's busiest open-heart cardiac surgery program, reaching 5,000 open heart procedures annually. 3 Cooley DA. A brief history of the Texas Heart Institute. Tex Heart Inst J. 2008; 35: 235-239 PubMed Google Scholar The THI reputation and the banking executive's prior association were responsible for the expedition's choice of THI for the clinical team. Other trip organizers had previous contacts with the Shanghai Renji (also known as “Ren-Ji”) Hospital, which was associated with the No. 2 People's Medical School. The hospital surgical team was receptive to the authors visit. This article presents the experience of the authors, the 2 cardiovascular anesthesiologists on this unusual journey.