SURGERY OF THE PERICARDIUM AND HEART

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The development of surgical procedures on the pericardium and heart to the present status unfolds another wonderful chapter in the romance of the science and art of surgery. It is just thirty-two years since a suture was successfully placed in the pulsating heart. Yet since earliest time, the seriousness of lacerations of the heart has been appreciated and the necessity of pericardial drainage in certain circumstances recognized. HISTORICAL DATA Wounds of the Pericardium and Heart.—The evolution of surgical procedures on the pericardium and heart may be studied conveniently in four periods. First Period: There first existed the legendary period when mysticism prevailed and the heart was looked on as the "fountaine of life, a sacred organ, injury of which was beyond the skill of man to relieve." It began with Hippocrates and ended with Ambroise Paré (1509-1590). It is interesting that Hippocrates did not stress the great danger of

This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit: