About this stamp
The heart, long revered as the seat of life, has captivated the imaginations of poets, philosophers, and scientists alike. Yet, for centuries, it was considered untouchable by surgery, a belief epitomized by British surgeon Stephen Paget’s 1896 remark that “surgery of the heart has probably reached the limit set by nature to all surgery.” However, that same year, Ludwig Rehn of Frankfurt defied this notion by performing the first successful repair of a stab wound to the heart, marking the beginning of modern cardiac surgery.
Milestones in Cardiac Surgery:
- 1912: Theodore Tuffier, Paris – Performed surgery on the aortic valve.
- 1923: Elliot Cutter, Boston – Conducted surgery on the mitral valve.
- 1945: Alfred Blalock, Baltimore – Developed systemic-pulmonary shunt for “blue babies.”
- 1952: John Lewis, Minnesota – Closed an atrial septal defect.
- 1952: Charles Hufnagel, Georgetown – Implanted a valve substitute.
- 1953: John Gibbon, Boston – Pioneered open-heart surgery.
- 1959: Ake Senning, Sweden – Introduced the totally implantable pacemaker.
- 1964: Michael DeBakey, Houston – Successfully performed coronary artery bypass surgery.
- 1967: Christiaan Barnard, Cape Town – Achieved the first heart transplant.
The following decades witnessed remarkable advancements, including heart-lung bypass technology, tissue preservation methods during surgery, and surgical interventions for patients of all ages. Research even extended to correcting fetal defects in the womb, and the quest for an ideal heart valve prosthesis led to significant innovations.
Cardiac Surgery in India:
India has kept pace with global advancements in cardiac surgery. The country’s first successful open-heart surgery was performed by Dr. Reeve H. Betts and Dr. N. Gopinath on July 6, 1959, at the Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore. Dr. P.K. Sen of Bombay contributed to global cardiac surgery with the concept of transmyocardial revascularization using laser technology and attempted the first cardiac transplant in India in 1969. The first successful heart transplant in India was performed on August 3, 1994, by a team led by Prof. P. Venugopal at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi.
Commemoration:
As cardiac surgery enters a new era, the Department of Post pays tribute to the pioneers who have transformed this field into a pinnacle of precision and sophistication. The commemorative stamp depicts the first successful suturing of a heart wound on the left, and cardiac transplantation in progress on the right. The First Day cover illustrates surgery in progress, while the cancellation stamp features a scalpel and a heart, symbolizing the extraordinary journey of cardiac surgery from its infancy to the present day.
