Portal:New Zealand/Selected article/Week 19, 2006

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Sir Brian Gerald Barratt-Boyes, KBE (1924 - March 8, 2006) was a pioneering heart surgeon from New Zealand.

In 1956 he pioneered the development of cardiopulmonary bypass in New Zealand, the first patient being operated on in 1958. While this task must have been made more difficult by New Zealand's relative remoteness and small population, the Greenlane Hospital surgical team quickly achieved an international reputation for innovative excellence. Indeed he suggested that Auckland's isolation conferred an advantage comparable to that enjoyed by the Mayo Clinic in small-town Rochester, Minnesota, making it less likely that day-to-day interruptions would interfere with the real purpose of their work.

In 1962 he introduced the human cadaveric aortic homograft for aortic valve replacement and for many years he worked to perfect valve preparation, emphasizing its inherent physiologic advantages and simplifying its surgical implant technique. He and his team's results became the standard for others to match.