At the Cutting Edge of the Impossible: A Tribute to Vladimir P. Demikhov

Vladimir P. Demikhov (1916–1998) performed the world''s first experimental intrathoracic transplantations and coronary artery bypass operation. His successes heralded the era of modern heart and lung transplantation and the surgical treatment of coronary artery disease. Even though he was one of the greatest experimental surgeons of the 20th century, his international isolation fueled speculation, suppositions, and myths. Ironically, his transplantation of a dog''s head drew more publicity than did his pioneering thoracic surgical accomplishments, and he became an easy target for criticism. An account of Demikhov''s life and work is presented herein.Key words: Cardiac surgical procedures/history/methods, coronary artery bypass, Demikhov V, dogs, heart transplantation/history, history of medicine, 20th century, lung transplantation/history, Russia, thoracic surgery, USSR

What I want and aim at is confoundedly difficult, and yet I do not think I aim too high. I want to do drawings which touch some people … I want to progress so far that people will say of my work, he feels deeply, he feels tenderly—notwithstanding my so-called roughness, perhaps even because of it. It seems pretentious to talk this way now, but this is the reason why I want to push on with all my strength. What am I in most people''s eyes? A nonentity or an eccentric and disagreeable man—somebody who has no position in society and never will have, in short, the lowest of the low. Very well … then I should want my work to show what is in the heart of such an eccentric, of such a nobody. This is my ambition, which is, in spite of everything, founded less on anger than on love.¹—Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)

Vladimir P. Demikhov''s success with experimental coronary artery surgery and intrathoracic organ transplantations heralded the modern era of heart and lung transplantation and the surgical treatment of coronary artery disease. However, Demikhov is known today mainly as a legendary surgeon who experimentally transplanted a second head onto a dog. His international isolation fueled speculation, suppositions, and myths. Although Demikhov''s contributions to cardiothoracic surgery became internationally recognized during recent decades,^2–10 almost no details were known about him. Presented here is the biography of the man behind the legends—one of the greatest experimental surgeons of the 20th century.