Stephen Westaby

A TIMES BEST BOOK OF 2019 An intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession’s most eminent figures.

The Knife’s Edge: The Heart and Mind of a Cardiac Surgeon

An incredible memoir from one of the world's most eminent heart surgeons and some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he's worked on. Grim Reaper sits on the heart surgeon's shoulder. A slip of the hand and life ebbs away. The balance between life and death is so delicate, and the heart surgeon walks that rope between the two. In the operating room there is no time for doubt. It is flesh, blood, rib-retractors and pumping the vital organ with your bare hand to squeeze the life back into it. An off-day can have dire consequences - this job has a steep learning curve, and the cost is measured in human life. Cardiac surgery is not for the faint of heart. Professor Stephen Westaby took chances and pushed the boundaries of heart surgery. He saved hundreds of lives over the course of a thirty-five year career and now, in his astounding memoir, Westaby details some of his most remarkable and poignant cases - such as the baby who had suffered multiple heart attacks by six months old, a woman who lived the nightmare of locked-in syndrome, and a man whose life was powered by a battery for eight years. A powerful, important and incredibly moving book, Fragile Lives offers an exceptional insight into the exhilarating and sometimes tragic world of heart surgery, and how it feels to hold someone's life in your hands.

A Heart Surgeon's Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table

Fragile Lives

An intimate and compelling exploration into the unique psyche of the heart surgeon, by one of the profession's most eminent figures. Although Professor Stephen Westaby was born with the necessary coordination and manual dexterity, it was a head trauma sustained during university that gifted him the qualities of an exceptional heart surgeon: qualities that are frequently associated with psychopathy. His thirty-five-year career has been characterised by fearlessness and ruthless ambition; leaving empathy at the hospital door as thousands of patients put their lives in his hands. For heart surgeons, the inevitable cost of failure is death and in The Knife's Edge, Westaby reflects on the unique mindset of those who are drawn to this exhilarating and often tragic profession. We discover the pioneers who grasped opportunities and took chances to drive innovation and save lives. Often difficult, uninhibited and fearless, theirs is a field constantly threatened by the risk of public failure. Like those before him, Westaby refuses to draw the line in his search of a lifetime solution to problems of the heart. His determination is unerring - a steadfastness underpinned by his unusual mind. But as we glimpse into the future of cardiac surgery, for all its remarkable scientific advancement, one question remains: within the confines of socialised medical healthcare systems, how can heart surgeons - individuals often hardwired with avoidance of self-doubt, a penchant for glory and a flagrant disregard for authority - truly flourish?

The Knife's Edge

SHORTLISTED FOR THE COSTA BIOGRAPHY PRIZE THE SUNDAY TIMES NO.2 BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE BMA PRESIDENT’S AWARD 2017 An incredible memoir from one of the world’s most eminent heart surgeons, recalling some of the most remarkable and poignant cases he’s worked on.

Fragile Lives: A Heart Surgeon’s Stories of Life and Death on the Operating Table

Tirone E David

Hans A Huysmans

This text is divided into seven sections covering the applications, uses, effects and designs of stentless bioprostheses. The three opening chapters describe the paediatric applications of stentless bioprostheses, with reference to aortic valve replacement and right ventricular outflow tract reconstruction Chapters in the second section discuss the use of stentless bioprostheses in the mitral position. The following two sections discuss different aspects of the clinical outcomes of stentless bioprostheses and the fifth section has seven chapters on haemodynamics and left ventricular function. The final sections cover the topics of implantation techniques and the design and construction of stentless bioprostheses. The second edition is updated and enhanced and is Illustrated in full colour.

Stentless Bioprostheses

Armand Piwnica

This book provides the first authoritative account of the use of stentless bioprostheses in cardiac surgery. The concept of the stentless heart valve was borne from the observation of natural heart valves in the operating theatre. Many surgeons now believe that the porcine stentless bioprosthesis offers significant advantages over the traditional stented valve, including improved durability (minimum calcification, no tears), biocompatability and automatic ventricular function preservation. These issues, along with the suitability of the various valves now available are discussed in full by leading experts in the field. The text is divided into three main sections; historical background, stentless valve technology and clinical experience. Each chapter is fully referenced and complemented by photographs and operative line illustrations, the majority of which are in full colour.

In gripping prose, one of the world's leading cardiac surgeons lays bare both the wonder and the horror of a life spent a heartbeat away from death When Stephen Westaby witnessed a patient die on the table during open-heart surgery for the first time, he was struck by the quiet, determined way the surgeons walked away. As he soon understood, this detachment is a crucial survival strategy in a profession where death is only a heartbeat away. In Open Heart, Westaby reflects on over 11,000 surgeries, showing us why the procedures have never become routine and will never be. With astonishing compassion, he recounts harrowing and sometimes hopeful stories from his operating room: we meet a pulseless man who lives with an electric heart pump, an expecting mother who refuses surgery unless the doctors let her pregnancy reach full term, and a baby who gets a heart transplant-only to die once it's in place. For readers of Atul Gawande's Being Mortal and of Henry Marsh's Do No Harm, Open Heart offers a soul-baring account of a life spent in constant confrontation with death.

Stephen Westaby

About

Books

Join the club