Pioneering Alberta cardiac surgeons walked into uncharted territory 40 years ago.

CMAJ · 1997

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Abstract

When Dr. John Callaghan performed Canada's first successful open-heart surgery in Edmonton in 1956, the operation took 10 hours and the heart-lung pump he used looked like it had come from the shelves at Canadian Tire. Today the operation takes a couple of hours and the heart-lung pumps used cost $150,000. This article discusses Calaghan's pioneering work, which was recently honoured by University Hospital in Edmonton.