Sometimes it is being in the right place at the right time that allows one to achieve wonders. 100,000 Hearts tells the story of Denton Cooley one of the pioneers of heart surgery and founder of the Texas Heart Institute.
Denton was the first person to implant a total artificial heart into a patient which is what made the book appeal to me. This is spoken about in the briefest terms with very little detail on the problems and techniques involved. Denton developed several other new techniques including surgical repair of aneurisms which are mentioned with the relevant reference to the published scientific paper within the book. This opens up the book as it doesn’t get too technical whilst also giving people that want the details directions on where to go however for me was disappointing.
Whilst some of the journals from the time are available freely (such as the Texas State Journal of Medicine) there are a significant number of the referenced articles locked behind journal paywalls. This includes the description of the first aortic aneurism surgery which published in the Annals of Surgery costs $57 to buy access to which is not cheap.
There is a lot of talk about Denton’s athletic background and time outside of the operating theatre including trips for conferences and meeting various royal families. Denton also talks in detail about his feud with Mike DeBakey.
By Denton’s own admission cardiothoracic surgery is an area that is so well developed now that for a surgeon to be considered pioneering would be extremely difficult. For me I can see a lot of the future in this discipline focused on organ regeneration and repair to address the shortage of transplant organs available.
For me it was a book that I stopped and started over a week instead of one which I couldn’t put down. I was disappointed that it lacked more discussion on the surgeries that changed the face of modern cardiovascular surgery.
