Early Development of Congenital Heart Surgery: Open Heart Procedures

Experience in the surgical management of congenital heart defects led to the advent of open heart surgery as it is known today. Only after 1938, when Robert Gross first ligated a patent ductus arteriosus, did congenital anomalies yield to correction. Success with these anomalies encouraged surgeons to attempt other extracardiac and intracardiac repairs. These attempts resulted in a steady flow of advances that culminated in the practical application of cardiopulmonary bypass and the procedures it made possible. Today, less than 60 years since Gross’s landmark operation, surgical intervention can fully or partially correct 95% of congenital heart defects.