Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Creation of Patient-Specific Silicone Cardiac Models with Applications in Pre-surgical Plans and Hands-on Training
Published on: February 10, 2022
[34,450 days of cardiac surgery in the Czech Republic]
1Kardiochirurgická klinika IKEM, Praha. jan.pirk@medicon.cz
Insights
Czech cardio-surgery has reached West-European standards, marked by significant developments since 1910. Historically, it evolved from treating heart injuries to complex procedures, with doctors showing better surgical outcomes than the general population.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Surgery
- Medical History
Context:
- The development of cardio-surgery in Bohemia and Moravia traces back to the early 20th century.
- Pioneering procedures included treating stab wounds to the heart and later, angina pectoris and constrictive pericarditis.
Purpose:
- To review essential milestones in the evolution of Czech cardio-surgery.
- To present currently prevalent surgical interventions.
- To assess the contemporary standing of Czech cardio-surgery against Western European benchmarks.
Summary:
- The article chronicles the historical progression of cardio-surgery in the Czech Republic, highlighting key procedures and their development.
- It concludes that Czech cardio-surgery is comparable to West-European standards in terms of procedure volume and diversity.
- A notable observation is that medical professionals treated at ICEM demonstrated superior surgical outcomes for heart disease compared to the general population.
Impact:
- Establishes the advanced status of Czech cardio-surgery.
- Provides historical context for understanding the field's growth.
- Challenges the notion of physicians being 'bad patients' by showcasing positive treatment results.
Abstract:
Professor Karel Maydl was born in Rokytnice nad Jizerou, where his father was employed at the local court. Czech cardio-surgery was born with the first successful treatment of the stab in the heart, which was done by professor Rychlík in 1910. The next few years the cardio-surgery was represented only by occasional treatment of heart injury. Only in 1934 Jirí Divis excided ganglion stelatum to cure angina pectoris and in 1936 he performed surgical treatment of constrictive pericarditis. Article reviews all Essentials moments in the development of cardio-surgery in Bohemia and Moravia. The second part of the paper gives at present the most frequently performed surgeries. It is concluded that the Czech cardio-surgery has according to the numbers and duality of the treatment the west-European level. At the end Professor Maydl, who died for heart failure, is quoted, why he himself had to be stroked by the disease, which is not possible to treat with the knife. In the 100 years since that it is possible to evaluate that in ICEM 283 medical doctors have been treated for the heart disease and results of their operations were Berger than in standard population. It reproves the bad record of doctors to be bad patients.
