[Cardiac massage: the evolution of techniques]

Up to the 19th century, reanimation of persons apparently dead just included respiratory managing. Cardiac reanimation was born with the accession to anesthesia and their severe cardiac complications. Although closed-chest cardiac massage had been described from the outset of our century, bloody techniques of direct cardiac massage was especially used until the end of the fifties. Methodically, Kouvenhoven has demonstrated closed-chest cardiac massage effectiveness, and has known to lay down this technique in cardiac reanimation.