REVASCULARIZATION OF HEART BY GRAFT OF SYSTEMIC ARTERY INTO CORONARY SINUS

Abstract

The first experiments to improve the arterial circulation to the heart were carried out by one of us (Claude S. Beck) in 1932. At that time the idea of improving coronary circulation by operative methods was a radical departure from established medical thought. A serious study of this subject was undertaken and several thousand operations were done on dogs during the next ten years. The results of these studies cannot be given here, but a general statement can be made to the effect that the circulation to the heart was improved by operative methods.¹The degree of benefit produced by operation was measured by mortality after ligation of a major coronary artery in an operative group as compared to that in a normal control group. The size of the infarct following ligation of a coronary artery was also an index of benefit. That the heart was protected by operative methods