This medical illustration shows the human heart and the pericardium, or heart covering. *
Image: Corbis * 1891: The victim of a stab wound becomes the first person to undergo heart surgery involving the suturing of the pericardium, or heart sac.
The victim, 22, sustained a 2-inch tear to the pericardium when he was stabbed during a fight. The wounded man was taken to City Hospital in St. Louis, where the decision was made to attempt surgery.
It was a controversial decision, because opening the chest cavity to repair wounds to the heart was not yet accepted practice, owing to the excessive risks involved. Nevertheless, with the victim's temperature at 101 and his complaining of pain, faintness, nausea and loss of feeling on his left side, Dr. H.C. Dalton made the decision to go in.
Dalton made an 8-inch incision and removed part of the fourth rib to get to the damaged heart sac, then sutured it -- no mean feat considering the victim's heart was pounding at a rate of 140 beats per minute. Following the motion of the beating heart, Dalton stitched up the tear with catgut.
It was touch-and-go for a while: Dalton's account says it appeared that the victim came close to dying during the surgery, but hypodermic injections of whiskey and strychnia revived him. The surgical team used sterilized warm water to irrigate the wound area, then stitched him up. Once he turned the corner, the victim made a full recovery.
(Source: Today in Science)
Correction: The original article misidentified the patient, whose name is in fact lost to history.
