A Twenty Seven Year Experience of Open Heart Surgery at Seoul National University Hospital

Abstract

For twenty seven years from 1959 to 1985, 4,115 cases of open heart surgery utilizing cardiopulmonary bypass were done in the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital. Among 4,115 cases operated, congenital heart disease comprised 72.5% (2,982 cases), and acquired heart disease comprised 17.5% (1,133 cases). The operative mortality rate on congenital heart disease was 8.9% and the rate on acquired heart disease was 8.0%. Among cases operated due to congenital anomalies, 1,963 cases were acyanotic and 1,019 cases were cyanotic varieties; the operative mortality rate of the former was 3.7% and that of the latter was 18.9%. Valvular heart disease was the major cause of open heart surgery in acquired heart disease with the operative mortality rate of 7.8%. During the burgeoning period, mortality rate was high and the number of operated cases was small. But as the experiences accumulated year by year, the mortality rate decreased rapidly and markedly and plummeted to less than 5% in recent years. But many problems associated with high operative mortality rate in cyanotic patients should be solved and it is expected that coronary artery bypass surgery will increase rapidly in a few years.