<P> The earliest operations on the pericardium ( the sac that surrounds the heart ) took place in the 19th century and were performed by Francisco Romero ( 1801 ) , Dominique Jean Larrey ( 1810 ) , Henry Dalton ( 1891 ) , and Daniel Hale Williams ( 1893 ) . The first surgery on the heart itself was performed by Axel Cappelen on 4 September 1895 at Rikshospitalet in Kristiania , now Oslo . Cappelen ligated a bleeding coronary artery in a 24 - year - old man who had been stabbed in the left axilla and was in deep shock upon arrival . Access was through a left thoracotomy . The patient awoke and seemed fine for 24 hours , but became ill with a fever and died three days after the surgery from mediastinitis . </P>
<P> The earliest operations on the pericardium ( the sac that surrounds the heart ) took place in the 19th century and were performed by Francisco Romero ( 1801 ) , Dominique Jean Larrey ( 1810 ) , Henry Dalton ( 1891 ) , and Daniel Hale Williams ( 1893 ) . The first surgery on the heart itself was performed by Axel Cappelen on 4 September 1895 at Rikshospitalet in Kristiania , now Oslo . Cappelen ligated a bleeding coronary artery in a 24 - year - old man who had been stabbed in the left axilla and was in deep shock upon arrival . Access was through a left thoracotomy . The patient awoke and seemed fine for 24 hours , but became ill with a fever and died three days after the surgery from mediastinitis . </P>
who did the first open heart surgery in the world
who did the first open heart surgery in the world
Axel Cappelen
Axel Cappelen