In Cardiac Surgery -- As open-heart procedures became widespread in the 1950s and beyond, Mayo Clinic helped lead the development of a new specialty: cardiovascular surgery.

This specialty built upon and worked closely with many related fields. Yet cardiovascular surgery also evolved its own methods of patient care, research and education. Indeed, advances in cardiovascular surgery often led to innovations in other areas.

Examples of Mayo Clinic milestones:

First Intensive Care Unit
Mayo Clinic had perhaps the first Intensive Care Unit in the world, which opened at Saint Marys Hospital in 1957. The ICU developed in response to the unique needs of open-heart patients. Today, however, the specialty is so advanced that many cardiac surgery patients do not need an ICU.

Early Computer Monitoring
In 1968, Mayo Clinic and IBM collaborated on one of the world's first computer systems to monitor cardiac patients.

"The computer is programmed to continuously measure some six to eight variables, to display the values at five-minute intervals on a TV monitor at the patient's bedside and to initiate administration of drugs if measurements indicate their need." Mayovox, June 14, 1968

Professional Leadership

American Association of Thoracic Surgeons
Dr. Samuel Robinson, President, 1921-1922
Dr. Stuart Harrington, President, 1947-1948
Dr. James Clagett, President, 1962-1963
Dr. John Kirklin, President, 1978-1979
Dr. Dwight McGoon, President, 1983-1984
Dr. Robert Wallace, President, 1994-1995

Society of Thoracic Surgeons
Dr. F. Henry Ellis, Jr., President, 1978-1979
Dr. Peter Pairolero, President, 2004-2005

American Heart Association
Dr. Arlie Barnes, President, 1947-1948
Dr. Edgar Allen, President, 1956-1957
Dr. Jesse Edwards, President, 1967-1968
Dr. John Shepherd, President, 1976-1977
Dr. Valetin Fuster, President, 1998-1999
Dr. Ray Gibbons, President-Elect, 2005-2006

American College of Cardiology
Dr. Robert Brandenburg, President, 1980-1981
Dr. Robert Frye, President, 1991-1992
Dr. W. Bruce Fye, President, 2002-2003