Succinct History of Greek Cardiac Surgery

  The development and evolution of Greek Cardiac Surgery (GCS) has followed the international cardiothoracic surgery after the invention of cardiopulmonary bypass machine by John Gibbon in 1953. Chronologically, the development of GCS could be divided in four periods: (a) the first or essay period (1950–1960) characterized by the lack of organization, the experimentation and hesitation from the surgeons' side, and the reluctance from the patients' side to have an operation in Greece. (b) The second or stabilization period (1960–1970) is the period during which several separate cardiovascular departments were organized and performed the first valve replacement in 1964. (c) The third or “strengthening” period (1970–1985), during which Greek surgeons were trained abroad and adopted new methods and techniques of surgical therapy. The first operations of coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic aneurysm were performed (1973–1975). Various purely Cardiothoracic Centers were founded in Athens and Thessalonica and cardiac surgery became a routine operation. However, these centers were numerically not enough to cover the demand of patients in need of cardiac surgery. (d) The fourth or maturity period (1985 till today). It is characterized by the creation of private cardiac surgery departments and the gradual establishment of new university centers at the periphery, which along with the Onassis Cardiac Center, eliminated any need for patients to leave the country.