FOUR HUNDRED AND FIFTY CONSECUTIVE OPEN HEART OPERATIONS.

Four hundred and fifty consecutive open heart operations on 437 patients, using cardiopulmonary by-pass, were done at the Stanford Medical Center from January 8, 1960, to July 15, 1964. The in-hospital mortality was 6.4 per cent. Of the patients who survived, 18.4 per cent had a major complication. In 57 per cent of the cases the lesions were congenital, in 42 per cent acquired, and in 1 per cent both congenital and acquired.The correction of nearly all intracardiac and serious vascular defects is now possible with the use of extracorporeal circulation. The mortality and morbidity rates are low enough so that every person with a cardiovascular defect should be seriously considered for surgical correction.