Chordae: 1959–2009

In October 1955, I started training in General Surgery at the Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN). On the third Saturday afternoon in October, I observed John Kirklin performing an open heart operation using extracorporeal circulation. On Monday, I visited the Fellowship Office and requested the addition of Thoracic Training to my studies. This was added and carried with it the requirement of writing a thesis. For this task, my advisor Dr. Bunky Ellis gave me a project: development of a mitral valve prosthesis. This was a virgin field at the time and I first asked myself the question: how does the mitral valve work? In 1959, I started my thesis in the classical manner by studying the anatomy of any mitral valve I could get my hands on. I dissected the hearts of humans, dogs, deer, guinea pigs, beaver, etc. My major conclusion from this effort was that mitral valve anatomy was dominated by irregularity.