An odyssey of suturing cardiac wounds: Lessons from the past.

<bold>Background and Aim Of the Study: </bold>Cardiac wounds have been described for centuries and still remain to be fatal. For a long period of time, the suturing of a myocardial laceration was thought to be absolutely impossible if not sacrilege.<bold>Methods: </bold>It is only at the end of the 19th century that pioneers decided to defy such a dogma in desperate cases.<bold>Results: </bold>Nowadays, it seems obvious that a cardiac stab wound requires emergent surgery whenever possible.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The story of cardiac wounds highlights nicely the change of mind that is required to accept progress and new procedures in medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]