Robert Hans Goetz (17 April 1910,

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

– 15 December 2000,

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coterminous municipality, coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate ...

) was the surgeon who performed the first successful clinical (i.e., human)

coronary artery bypass graft Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage"), is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest p ...

surgery. The surgery was performed May 2, 1960 using the left

internal thoracic artery The internal thoracic artery (ITA), also known as the internal mammary artery, is an artery that supplies the anterior chest wall and the breasts. It is a paired artery, with one running along each side of the sternum, to continue after its bifurc ...

. The graft remained patent, as demonstrated by

angiography Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is perfo ...

, and the patient remained free of

angina Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease. Angina is typically the result of parti ...

for one year. While names such as

Michael Debakey Michael Ellis DeBakey (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was an American general and cardiovascular surgeon, scientist and medical educator who became Chairman of the Department of Surgery, President, and Chancellor of Baylor College of Medi ...

Christiaan Barnard Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8November 19222September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident victim ...

(a student of Goetz in

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

), and others are well known, Goetz gained little recognition. Goetz was associate professor of surgery at the

Albert Einstein College of Medicine The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a Private university, private medical school in New York City. Founded in 1953, Einstein is an independent degree-granting institution within the Montefiore Einstein Health System. Einstein hosts Doc ...

in 1957 and later professor of surgery at Bronx Municipal Hospital in 1961. He retired in 1982.

References

Robert H. Goetz: The First Coronary BypassKonstantinov, IE (June 2000). "Robert H. Goetz: the surgeon who performed the first successful clinical coronary bypass operation. Ann Thorac Surg 69 (6): 1966-72.
1910 births 2000 deaths German cardiac surgeons Scientists from Frankfurt Goethe University Frankfurt alumni Yeshiva University faculty German emigrants to the United States 20th-century American surgeons {{US-physician-stub