King of Hearts: The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery

by G. Wayne Miller

Book Overview

Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life.

This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609807242
• ISBN13: 9780609807248
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (CA)
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

A Very Moving Book

As I read this book, I was profoundly moved. I was was born with a ASD & pulmonary valve defect. Dr Richard Varco and Lellehei did my surgery At the Variety Club Heart hospital in 1955 . I was one of the 1st one hundred surgeries done at the U of Minn.What incredable dedication , hard work, these men had. In my early twenties, I again needed heart surgery. This time again a very brillent, dedicated surgeon by the name of U Scott Page did a total correction.I have been able to live a wonderful. active life thanks the The King of Heart and team and Dr Page. I owe my life to the many, many dogs used to perfect progress of open heart surgery. I am a nurse, I have cared for many open heart patients. Thank you Dr Varco, Dr Lillehei and Dr S Page

Enlightening, inspiring

Mr. Miller's style of suspense keeps us reading to see what happens next. He vividly portrays the progress of open heart surgery, step by painful and bloody step. The reader suffers with the parents and doctors with each failed operation on each child, but watching as each technical problem is solved makes everything ok in the end.The reader learns about various congenital heart diseases of children, the symptoms, the physical descriptions, and the outcomes. Mr. Miller explains the procedures very well so no prior knowledge of surgery, medicine, or heart physiology is required.My favorite part is the race with the Mayo Clinic to perfect the heart-lung machine. The Mayo Clinic not only loses, but loses almost comically. Another favorite part is how the pace-maker was invented. This story along with the heart-lung machine story make this book worth reading.If you are interested in medicine, surgery, heart problems, medical history, medical technology, or just want to learn, then you will appreciate "King of Hearts."

An edge of your seat page turner--and non-fiction to boot!

G. Wayne Miller's prose grabbed me in the prologue and didn't let me loose until the last savory word of the final chapter. Never have I read a work of non-fiction so filled with the human spirit. Mr. Miller's detailed research, carefully and clearly articulated, did not bore the reader with too much extraneous minutiae; rather, his artful phrasing provided a vivid mental view of the intricacies, complexity and very real danger of Walt Lillehei's pioneering medical research and surgical techniques. We take so much for granted in these days of commonplace medical miracles, and often we forget to pay gracious respect to those who took great risks (and many who paid the ultimate price) in paving the way for today's routine life-saving surgeries. Not only is Dr. Walt Lillehei's entrepreneurial, creative, fearless and at times bullheaded tenacity to be applauded; so, too, are his teachers, courageous mentors such as Dr. Owen Wangensteen, and perhaps most importantly, the parents so desperate to save the lives of their hopelessly heart damaged children. Yes, many of Lillehei's early patients perished, but how many people are alive today because of lessons learned from these early failures? How many of us recognize the names of Drs. Christiaan Barnard and Michael DeBakey and Denton Cooley? How many of us know the man who laid the foundation for their much celebrated successes with the human heart? Dr. Walt Lillehei was human, and therefore flawed, but his courage and medical brilliance make for captivating reading. Three cheers to G. Wayne Miller for introducing us to this unheralded hero of modern medicine.

Captivating!

I received a review copy of King of Hearts a few days after my son's last operation for Congenital Heart Defects, and I have to admit, the LAST thing I wanted to read about was open heart surgery! Much to my surprise, I was quickly engaged in this masterfully told story about Dr. Walt Lillehei. I was also struck by the bravery of parents who, by allowing new procedures to be tried on their children, laid the groundwork for the medical advances that keep our loved ones affected by Congenital Heart Defects alive today. Highly recommended reading for parents, adult patients, medical professionals, and others interested in medical history!

A Must Read! An incredible non-fiction page turner!

Dr. Walter Lillehei's last name is atually easy to pronounce. When reading G. Wayne Miller's newest non-fiction thriller, "The King of Hearts," just read his name as 'Lilla - High.' Almost like the name of a high school . . . Lilla High. But Miller's quest for the truth about 'Lilla High" turns into a reader's quest for the true story about the almost unbelievable account of how heart surgery began on this planet. Most of us remember or have heard about the Dr. Christiaan Barnards's headlining heart transplant in 1967. Maybe the recipient's name - Louis Washkansky- would be a good trivia question on 'Who Want's to be a Millionaire?' or 'Jeopardy.' But it might be better to learn about or remember the name of this maveric medical pioneer by the name of Dr. Walt Lillehei (prounounced like the high school!) who began the heart surgery revolution.This book is a suspensiful portrait of a fascinating man and his incredible determination, at any cost, to forge ahead where no doctor had before. We take for granted that our relative, friend, neighbor, even ourselves! can now go through a simple open heart surgery procedure and recover gracefully to enjoy a long life. But do you remember history just 30 or 40 years ago when heart disease at any age meant almost instant death? Do you know how many children just died from what we know demand from doctors to routinely fix?G.Wayne Miller answered so many questions for us through an amazing eight year project which is now titled "King of Hearts." Miller's project has become this 245 pages of reading that one WANTS to read all at once. Filled with suspense, drama, intrigue and the always-present element of actual human life and events that makes for a non-fiction, the reader is torn between what makes this book such a page-turner. Is it because it reads like a literary 'E.R.' or 'Chicago Hope,' or is it the because it is a fascinating medical story of real life with all the suspensful parts? Motivated, almost possessed doctors. Desperate people and parents of dying children. A doctor on an emotional roller coaster who pushed life to its fullest - both personally and professionally.This is the story of one of life's greatest accomplishments by a pioneer doctor, who like most pioneeers of anything - took great risks, pushed the limit, and believed in breaking the rules. He was the doctor who began what we all now call heart surgery. He was the doctor whose student, Christiaan Barnard, made worldwide headlines by performing a heart transplant - something we now take almost for granted, but what is it really?Doctor Walt "Lilly High" deserves more than 245 pages of drama and suspense. He dared where no others would - both professionally and personally. But the chances he took, the new opportunity he pioneered for all of us, and the personal life he led gave author Miller more than he needed. Miller's ability to chronical his eight year study of Walt Lillehei's life into