Vasilii I Kolesov: a surgeon to remember

Abstract

Vasilii I. Kolesov (1904-1992) was one of the pioneers of cardiovascular surgery. He is often referred to as the surgeon who performed the first successful coronary artery bypass operation. Kolesov was the first to successfully apply the suture technique to clinical coronary artery bypass surgery. He was also the first--and remains the only--surgeon to use coronary stapling clinically. Recent rapid development in robotic and video-assisted coronary surgery has revived interest in Kolesov's original work on coronary stapling and off-pump coronary surgery. However, little is known about the personality of Dr. Kolesov, his early work that led to his pioneering effort, and the circumstances under which his work was done.

Fig. 1 Dr. Vasilii I. Kolesov with his wife and son, Evgenii, in 1940. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov)

Fig. 2 A) Barrage balloons prior to deployment during the siege of Leningrad in 1941. St. Isaac's Cathedral is in the background, and Kolesov's hospital is the dark-walled building on the left. B) One of the patients operated on during the siege. A decorated Christmas tree appears in the background. (Courtesy of the Military Medical Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia)

Fig. 3 Dr. Vasilii I. Kolesov, a surgeon-in-chief of the hospital in Leningrad in 1943, in the uniform of a major of the Medical Corps of the Army. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov)

Fig. 4 Dr. Vasilii I. Kolesov in the 1960s, during the time when his first coronary bypass operations were performed. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov)

Fig. 5 A) Pronin's collapsible cannula for continuous coronary autoperfusion during surgery. The collapsible cannula (a) is used to hold the internal thoracic artery and introduce it into the coronary artery (b), so that the coronary blood flow is continuously maintained while the suture anastomosis is being created (c). (From: Pronin VI et al.12) B) Kolesov's instrument to apply the principle of continuous coronary autoperfusion to coronary bypass surgery. (From: Kolesov VI. With permission from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.)

Fig. 6 Dr. Vasilii I. Kolesov closes a ventricular septal defect in a child in 1965. The operation is performed with support of the first Soviet bubble oxygenator (seen in the upper left-hand corner) constructed by Drs. F.V. Baliuzek and N.I. Ermilov at the Military Medical Academy in Leningrad in the late 1950s. Drs. A.O. Levin and L.V. Potashov assist, Dr. G.L. Kotomina gives anesthesia, and Drs. S.M. Pudiakov and E.V. Kolesov (wearing glasses) observe. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov)

Fig. 7 A) The vascular circular stapler with elongated bushing that was used by V.I. and E.V. Kolesov in coronary surgery. 1 = coronary artery; 2 = internal thoracic artery; 3 = incision in the coronary artery; 4 = bushing; 5 = elongated bushing. (From: Kolesov VI.29) B) Angiogram done in the late 1960s, 3 years and 7 months after surgery, demonstrating a patent end-to-end anastomosis (arrow) that had been made by a vacuum-facilitated stapler. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov. From Konstantinov IE. With permission from the American Association for Thoracic Surgery.)

Fig. 8 Dr. Vasilii I. Kolesov A) talks to a patient, B) scrubs his hands before surgery, C) lectures to medical students in the late 1970s, and D) takes a walk with his dog in the late 1970s. (Courtesy of Dr. Evgenii V. Kolesov)