The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations

I have had heart surgery 4 times (yes ,you read correctly..4) and therefore it is a subject that is (pardon the pun) near and dear to my heart. I know, in many ways, way more than I ever wanted to know and way less than I should have known. This book offered me insights I had not previously been knowledgably about.The book begins with the first surgery to truly cut into the heart, during World War II in order to remove shrapnel from a soldiers heart. From there is moves on to the correction of "blue baby" syndrome to transplantation, valve jobs, bypass surgery, and what the future holds for those with cardiac issues.The chapter begin with a description of the surgery followed by the history of the development of the surgical technique, many of which were truly daring and utterly amazing. The author follows the surgery from its idea and attempts in the laboratory (if you are an animal lover, you may find this a bit much…most of the procedures required dozens of practice runs on animals before attempts in humans) and on to what became the surgery. Each was groundbreaking at the time it was performed.The author also details the issues with making the desired equipment needed to complete such surgeries such as the heart lung bypass machine, the valves used in valve jobs and so on. And a lot of engineering was needed for each surgery to proceed.Finally, the author reviews the personalities involved with the surgeries. To be a heart surgeon requires a God complex and an ego that is huge. My first surgeries were performed by a team of 2 cardiac surgeons, but my last was done by a surgeon with several physician assistants. I asked why and he explained that there could only be one "God" in the operating theater at a time. The egos of the men that performed each surgery for the first time…well, you have to read to believe how huge the egos wereThis is a wonderful book, filled with detail, yet very readable. For anyone about to undergo heart surgery it might be comforting to know just how it is done, and how safe it is. For those of us who have already been under the knife, it is interesting to learn just what goes on while you are under. Highly recommend!.

A fascinating book. Each chapter opens with an anecdote around one of the 11 surgeries mentioned in the title, e.g., Chapter 2 recounts the first Blalock-Taussig-Thomas procedure operation. Author Thomas Morris then goes on to recounts the history behind this medical innovation to provide context to the challenges doctors and technicians faced in developing it. There were a couple of times these incidents were repeated because some innovations were significant to more than one of the surgeries.As someone with Tetralogy of Fallot, I found the book intriguing and informative since many of the surgeries and medical innovations have had a direct impact on my life. I frequently found myself reading sections to my wife, noting my amazement at how it seemed like I was reading my own biography.If I had one quibble with the book, it's with the copy editing. There were a number of times Dr. Alfred Blalock was referred to as "Albert." It may seem minor, but accuracy does count.I'd recommend this book for anyone who has been affected by heart issue, whether as a patient or as a family member or friend. It's a real eye opener.

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Superbly written.. elegantly presented..Dr. Pushkar..

I worked in open-heart surgery for 25 year and I learned so much from reading this book. Great historical perspective. Wish I would have come across this book sooner. Well written...good flow!