Dr. John Cooper Shares The Texas Heart Institute Anesthesia Experience in China with the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia
The Texas Heart Institute Anesthesiology team in 1983.
Cardiovascular anesthesiologists John R. Cooper Jr, MD, and Samuel Metz, MD, have published details of their historical trip to the People’s Republic of China in September 1985 as part of a clinical delegation from The Texas Heart Institute (THI).
The authors shared their experiences based on recently discovered, original notes describing the team’s surgical activities and observations during the visit.
Through a connection by a former THI perfusionist turned executive, the delegation was invited to China to “demonstrate techniques used by THI in the care of the cardiac surgery patient.” At that time, THI was the busiest open-heart cardiac surgery program in the United States, with significant experience to share with other clinical centers.
The 22-person cardiovascular care team from THI included clinicians and technicians; additional personnel represented the manufacturers of the American surgical monitoring devices and perfusion equipment that the team brought with them. These representatives coordinated the device installation and provided technical assistance as needed.
Working first at the civilian Shanghai Renji Hospital and then at the Military Hospital in Beijing, the THI team and their Chinese counterparts at each hospital jointly performed multiple cardiovascular surgical cases, including coronary artery bypass surgeries, aortic valve replacements, and aortic graft procedures.
The surgeons at Renji Hospital were particularly interested in coronary artery bypass surgery, which had been developed in the West but was not yet common practice in China at that time.
The account from Drs. Cooper and Metz provides detailed descriptions of the anesthesia and life-support approaches used during the surgical procedures in the Chinese operating rooms—including the equipment, medications, and techniques—and compares these to the THI practices at the time.
Notably, the American monitors and equipment used in Shanghai were not transported to the hospital in Beijing, so the THI anesthesia team served as observers while the THI surgeons operated alongside the Chinese surgeons.
Read Report
Metz S, Cooper JR Jr. The Texas Heart Institute Anesthesia Experience in China, 1985. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2022 Aug 28:S1053-0770(22)00590-0. doi: 10.1053/j.jvca.2022.08.021.
