Paediatric heart transplant surgery. Without the aid of an operating microscope or magnifying loupes,the surgeon,Dr Leonard Bailey,connects blood vessels to the transplanted heart using sutures 30 microns in width,1/3 the diameter of a human hair. The patient,a boy in his second month,was suffering from a life-threatening congenital heart defect. Throughout the operation,the function of the heart & lungs was taken over by a machine (far right),& the boy's body temperature cooled to 15 degrees C. With the donor heart in place,his body temperature was gradually restored to normal & the heart induced to begin to beat |