1962

So it seems to be official now that the Stones have postponed their 50th anniversary tour to 2013.[1] Their first appearance under that name happened on July 12, 1962 at the Marquee Club, but the group was only joined by drummer Charlie Watts the following January. True aficionados will agree that without him they would never have developed into what they finally became. So his later entry is a pretty good excuse for the delay. There are numerous others, of course.

The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, however, has very good reasons to commemorate 1962. The journal, founded under the name of “Thoraxchirurgie” in 1953, had flourished for a decade. In issue 1/1962 the editor (Vossschulte) and publisher (Thieme) announced a change of the title to “Thoraxchirurgie und Vaskuläre Chirurgie” due to the ongoing surgical developments and to acknowledge the inseparability of the cardiovascular system.[2] The editorial board was extended to include Prof. Hegemann of Erlangen and Ake Senning, already in Zurich by that time. To accommodate a more international audience, the abstracts of the contributions were from then on published in German, English, and French (!) and the submission of articles in English and French language was also actively encouraged. Looking back, one can say that this was probably the conception of The Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgeon, which, turning into a full English-language journal, later got its present name from Borst in 1978.

But it is the content of volume 10, published in 1962/3, which is really worth commemorating. Comparing it to volume 60, issue 3, 50 years later (the one which you are looking at), there are striking, if not uncanny similarities. Considering that the legendary first cardiac operation with the help of extracorporeal circulation was performed by Gibbon in March 1953, it is amazing which limits were already pushed, not only experimentally, in 1962. Grünert in Berlin, Gütgemann in Bonn, Hoffmeister then in Göttingen, and Schlosser in Marburg all reported on various aspects of the effects of systemic hypothermia to better understand its pathophysiology and eventually that of circulatory arrest.[3] [4] [5] [6] It must have been a hard time for dogs. In 2012 the group from Erlangen shows an elegant way to avoid these effects, even under difficult circumstances, because they still share the same concerns.[7]

Another interesting study from Zenker's group in Munich (dedicated to the master's 60th birthday) investigated the fluid and electrolyte imbalances inflicted by cardiac surgery in 22 patients aged 12 to 35 years, explicitly excluding corrections done in children under the age of 10 years.[8] This emphasizes the role surgery for congenital heart disease played at that time, with valve replacement just emerging and coronary surgery barely on the horizon. Heart surgery was invented for kids.

Klinner, again from Zenker's group, delineates the advantages of the use of a Teflon tube as a temporary interposition graft for a Blalock-Taussig shunt.[9] Today, Photiadis reminds us that this technique is still part of the conventional Norwood operation.[10] And, speaking of Norwood stage II, two detailed studies regarding hemodynamics of the superior vena cava and the so-called azygos principle, which are important for the understanding of cavo-pulmonary anastomoses, can also be found in the 1962 issues.[11] [12]

Reents today describes the use of very old techniques for the correction of complex coarctation of the aorta.[13] In volume 10 of the journal you find two papers delineating this topic in detail.[14] [15] And even very rare things were bravely tackled, consequentially analyzed, and proudly reported.[16] [17] Just as today.[18] [19]

Suffice it to say that it is still worth looking at the publications from 50 years ago. They can all be accessed on the journal Web site by every subscriber. The language alone is a treat to read. You will not find the limited and soulless ways of expression apparently demanded by scientific publishing today. It may seem eerie that so many problems are vexing us still. On the other hand the value of current achievements can only be appreciated against the backdrop history provides.

You may ask: what became of the foreign language submissions? The first French one dealt with oesophageal cancer in issue 1/1963.[20] The inaugural English publication appeared immediately preceding that, with A. J. Gunning elaborating on oesophageal surgery.[21] This fills the current Editor with immense pride, because it was in Alf's Radcliffe and Churchill operating rooms in Oxford and under his guidance that he first came into touch with cardiac and thoracic surgery. The rest is history (again).

• References

• 1 Stones' 50th Anniversary Tour Pushed Back to 2013. Available at: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/stones-5-th-anniversary-tour-pushed-back-to-2-aa3-20120314#ixzz1plX5ogBz . Accessed March 15, 2012
• 2 Zum Beginn des zehnten Bandes (editorial). Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 1-2
• 3 Grünert RD. Eine neue Methode der extrakorporalen Hypothermie. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 250-253
• 4 Gütgemann A, Bernhard A, Dietmann K, Geisler P, Kreutzberg B, Raschke E. Intracardiale Eingriffe bei völliger Kreislaufunterbrechung in tiefer Perfusionshypothermie. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 1-2
• 5 Hoffmeister HE, Gertz KH, Sanpradit M , et al. Unterkühlung nach Drew. Untersuchungen über Abkühlung und Erwärmung, Stofwechsel und Hämodynamik. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 92-101
• 6 Schlosser V, Streicher HJ, Grote G, Hartung H. Beeinflussung der Blutgase und des Säure-Basen-Gleichgewichtes bei Blutstromkühlung unter 20̊ Rektaltemperatur im Experiment. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 709-719
• 7 Rüffer A, Klopsch C, Münch F , et al. Aortic arch repair: Let it beat!. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2011; 60: 189-194
• 8 Schmidt-Mende M, Wohlenberg H, Kovacicek St. Über das prae- und postoperative Verhalten der Körperflüssigkeitsräume bei angeborenen Herzfehlern. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 500-516
• 9 Klinner W, Pasini M, Schaudig A. Anastomose zwischen System- und Lungenarterie mit Hilfe von Kunststoffprothesen bei cyanotischen Herzvitien. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 68-74
• 10 Photiadis J, Sinzobahamvya N, Hraska V, Asfour B. Does bilateral pulmonary artery banding in comparison to Norwood procedure improve outcome in neonates with hypoplastic left heart syndrome beyond second stage palliation?. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60: 181-188
• 11 Yasargil EC. Die Haemodynamik der oberen Hohlvene (experimentelle Untersuchungen). Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 224-236
• 12 Yasargil EC. Über das sogenannte Azygosprinzip. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 563-574
• 13 Reents W, Froehner S, Diegeler A, Urbanski PP. Ascending-to-descending bypass for simultaneous surgery of aortic coarctation with other cardiac pathologies. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2011; 60: 210-214
• 14 Bircks W, Kort J, Kremer K. Die operative Behandlung tiefer Aortenstenosen. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 291-304
• 15 Hoffmeister HE, Sanpradit MM, Sonntag H. Über Kreislaufveränderungen bei der experimentellen Aortenisthmusstenose des Hundes. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 241-249
• 16 Grädel E, Buchs S. Scheidegger. Cor triatriatum sinistrum biventriculare. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 341-352
• 17 Gall F. Der doppelte Aortenbogen und vaskuläre Ringbildungen. Thoraxchirurgie 1962; 10: 466-477
• 18 Xiao Y, Ma RY, Yang ZY, Zhong QJ. Cor triatriatum with Tetralogy of Fallot and anomalous drainage of left superior vena cava: a case report and review of the literature. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60: 226-228
• 19 Furtado AD, Manohar SR, Pradhan SK, Pillai V, Karunakaran J. Persistent left fifth aortic arch with pentalogy of Fallot. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2011; 60: 233-235
• 20 Richard CA. Traitement du cancer de l'oesophage. Thoraxchir Vask Chir 1963; 11: 44-46
• 21 Gunning AJ. Reflux oesophagitis, carcinoma of the oesophagus and replacement of the oesophagus. Thoraxchir Vask Chir 1963; 11: 40-44