In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be. With astonishing compassion, he recounts harrowing and sometimes hopeful stories from his operating room: we meet a pulseless man who lives with an electric heart pump, an expecting mother who refuses surgery unless the doctors let her pregnancy reach full term, and a baby who gets a heart transplant-only to die once it's in place. For readers of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal and of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm, Open Heart offers a soul-baring account of a life spent in constant confrontation with death.

Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life. This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine. Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.

Angioplasty at fifty-six, open-heart surgery at sixty-one, running his first half marathon less than a year later. This is the remarkable and inspiring story of Dr. Akil Taher, who transformed from a middle-aged couch potato with a dangerously bad diet into a vital, energetic athlete, ever seeking new challenges and adventures. In this book, Dr. Taher relates the journey of his transformation-how even as a physician who knew better, he led an unhealthy lifestyle; how he ignored the warnings of his heart disease and other chronic ailments; and how after his bypass surgery, he set out to radically change his life to heal his body and his spirit. Training for and competing in his first half marathon was only the start. In compelling detail, he recounts his running in the Chicago, Boston, and Mumbai Marathons; his pilgrimage to Mount Kailash and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro; his first triathlon and 100-mile bike race. More importantly, Dr. Taher also discusses the enormous role diet plays in preventing as well as recovering from heart disease as well as other chronic illnesses, such as cancer, diabetes, and kidney disease. Citing reputable sources and using his own diet and health as examples, he guides the reader away from a diet heavy in meat, dairy, eggs, and sugar and proposes healthier eating-and living-that is grounded in a whole-food, plant-based diet. Open Heart is an essential read for anyone eager to change unhealthy lifestyle choices and embrace the excitement of a vibrant new life.

Myocardial protection is regarded as one of the most important, yet also most controversial aspects of cardiac surgery. There has been considerable improvement in myocardial protection strategies over recent years, utilising a variety of new approaches to treat cardiac diseases, and this text is intended to embrace the state of the art in this field. The book summarises the state of knowledge on all aspects of myocardial protection, including the latest in the treatment of cardiac diseases, robotics, pediatric surgery and the treatment of cardiac failure. Robotic surgery, valvular surgery, pediatric surgery and coronary surgery are all covered by renowned experts, producing a comprehensive, forward-looking view of the field of myocardial protection. This book should function to update physicians and surgeons interested in the field of cardiac surgery on the current state of knowledge on myocardial protection.

This absorbing and poignant book is not merely the story of one writer's flawed heart. It is a history of cardiac medicine, a candid personal journey, and a profound reflection on mortality. Born in 1966 with a congenital heart defect known as the tetralogy of Fallot, Gabriel Brownstein entered the world just as doctors were learning to operate on conditions like his. He received a life-saving surgery at five years old, and since then has ridden wave after wave of medical innovation, a series of interventions that have kept his heart beating. The Open Heart Club is both a memoir of a life on the edge of medicine's reach and a history of the remarkable people who have made such a life possible. It begins with the visionary anatomists of the seventeenth century, tells the stories of the doctors (all women) who invented pediatric cardiology, and includes the lives of patients and physicians struggling to understand the complexities of the human heart. The Open Heart Club is a riveting work of compassionate storytelling, a journey into the dark hinterlands between sickness and health lit by bright moments of humor and inspiration.

Robotic Cardiac Surgery is a comprehensive guide to robotic/totally endoscopic cardiac surgery. The book is intended to provide in-depth information regarding the history of robotic surgical systems, their components and principles. It emphasizes patient selection, perioperative management, anesthesia considerations and management, operative techniques and management, postoperative care and results. Extensive, detailed photographs and illustrations of different kinds of robotic surgery are also included. It provides cardiac surgeons, cardiac anesthesiologists, and perfusionists with a comprehensive review of current robotic cardiac surgeries and related knowledge. Changqing Gao, MD, is a professor at the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.

This is a pre-operative teaching book to prepare children and parents for heart surgery. The book's narrator, Mr Pump, tells the story of Matty's heart operation with text and pictures. Each page has a boxed explanation for older children and their parents.