STITCHING UP HEART.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13812, 25 January 1909, Page 2

STITCHING UP HEART.

A remarkable operation upon the heart of a Leeds butcher who was accidentally stabbed while following his occupation'was carried out by the surgeons of the Leeds Infirmary on Decomber Oth (says the London Daily Chronicle). The. man was removed to the institution in a collapsed state. The wound seems to have been a. severe one, the' wall of the heart being punctured. An operation was instantly performed and the lesion in the man's heart successfully stitched up. For the moment at, all events, as the result of this prompt surgical treatment the man's life is saved. ' The carrying out of such remarkable operations as that of stitching up the heart is of comparatively recent practice, and lias only been rendered possible by the high' state of efficiency in modern surgical work. During the past two or three years cases similar to the one mentioned above have, been dealt with successfully. lii one extraordinary instance, where a mail's life was absolutely despaired of some time ago, as the. result of a serious stub puncturing the heart, the operation was performed as a forlorn hope, and th<- ""m eve"tnallv rocovcred under skilful treatment. For some considerable time afterwards he' was walking about and nerforming his duties, apparently as'well"as ever.