Photo: The Auckland WeeklyChristchurch's Helen Harris (nee Arnold) was about 10 or 11-years-old when she underwent New Zealand’s first open heart surgery performed by Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes at Greenlane Hospital in September 1958. “I was a blue baby,” says Christchurch-based Harris who was born with a large hole between her right and left ventricles. “Many of those [babies] die in early infancy... some survive to be disabled and die prematurely, and some actually recover spontaneously,” Dr Kerr says. But the first open heart surgery required a lot of preparation and was an incredibly risky procedure. Photo: The Auckland WeeklyThe heart-lung machine is still used in what is now a common medical procedure that has altered medical history.

Source: Otago Daily Times December 03, 2020 02:03 UTC