Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery

In 1962, Thomas Kuhne coined the term “paradigm shift” while arguing that human knowledge advances by quantum leaps with interspersed smaller steps. Preparation for the major advance is generally not a concerted effort by thought leaders. Rather, a few (or one) visionaries gain insights into a process and are able to definitely demonstrate the accuracy of their worldview. Often, the epiphany does not occur during the intellectual lifetime of the discoverers. Medicine has had numerous such “paradigm shifts” including the compelling reworking of Galen’s concepts of the body. Of note, the scientific world of the time explained the new views by arguing that the human body must have changed between the time of ancient Greece and modern Europe. The inauguration of cardiac surgery itself required profound shifts in medicine’s view of physiology. Yet, over the ensuing 40 years, the field was fine tuned so we could provide greater than 95% success rates in elective surgery with low cost and short h- pital stays. In some parts of the world, the procedures were viewed as commodities and prices dropped as providers were unable to differentiate the quality of their work. As patients and their physicians became more demanding, the desire to make the procedures “minimally invasive” grew. In effect, what we were really searching for was a life saving procedure that also preserved quality of life. In short, “minimally invasive” has really been a code phrase for procedures that disrupt our quality of life the least.