description Elliott Cutler Overview
Elliott Cutler was an American surgeon associated with Boston's Peter Bent Brigham Hospital. In 1923, he performed an early operation for mitral stenosis using a device designed to remove part of the narrowed valve, an intervention often identified as the first successful mitral valve operation. His work helped establish that selected disorders inside the heart could be treated surgically, although early valve procedures remained highly hazardous.
insights Ranking position
Elliott Cutler ranks #194 of 342 in the Surgeon ranking, behind Vladimir Demikhov, ahead of Thomas Shields.
help Elliott Cutler FAQ
What exactly did Elliott Cutler do in the first successful mitral valve operation?
Cutler and cardiologist Samuel Levine operated on a 12-year-old girl with severe rheumatic mitral stenosis in 1923. Cutler entered through the heart and used a cutting instrument to enlarge the narrowed valve opening.
Where was Cutler's historic 1923 heart operation performed?
It took place at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, which later became part of Brigham and Women's Hospital. The operation is widely treated as the first successful surgery on a heart valve.
Did Cutler's mitral-valve technique immediately become standard treatment?
No. Later operations using the cutting technique had poor outcomes, and Cutler eventually abandoned it, but the initial survival proved that a diseased heart valve could be treated surgically.
What condition did Cutler's young patient have?
She had mitral stenosis caused by rheumatic heart disease, which restricted blood flow through the mitral valve. The successful operation relieved some of the obstruction and she survived for several years afterward.
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