[The role of experiments in cardiovascular surgery]

In this presentation the essential historical steps of cardiovascular surgery are briefly described regarding the basic importance of experimental research. It is seen that each step in this development was programmed by substantial animal experiments. Surgical researchers often have borrowed basic knowledge and methodology from the most important sister science, physiology. However, the great break-throughs to new surgical methods always were achieved by original thoughts and innovative methods introduced by surgeons. On this long road there were many delays which sometimes are difficult to understand from our point of view, depending on psychological barriers, lack of communication between experimental innovators and clinicians and insufficient international distribution of new knowledge. Further progress in cardiovascular surgery, especially towards the perfection of cardiac replacement are to be expected and these again will only be possible on the basis of animal experimentation.