TY - JOUR T1 - Pioneering Alberta cardiac surgeons walked into uncharted territory 40 years ago JF - Canadian Medical Association Journal JO - CMAJ SP - 549 LP - 551 VL - 156 IS - 4 AU - R. Cairney Y1 - 1997/02/15 UR - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/156/4/549.abstract N2 - When Dr. John Callaghan performed Canada's first successful open-heart surgery in Edmonton in 1956, the operation took 10 hours and the heart-lung pump he used looked like it had come from the shelves at Canadian Tire. Today the operation takes a couple of hours and the heart-lung pumps used cost $150,000. This article discusses Calaghan's pioneering work, which was recently honoured by University Hospital in Edmonton. ER -