Pioneering in the field of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery in India-the challenges.

Cardiothoracic surgery in India started with the beginnings of thoracic and closed heart surgery in the 1940s. Surgery in children has been a part of the story since inception and has reached the current exalted status of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. The journey was arduous amidst formidable challenges that were overcome with immense courage and perseverance of the pioneers. The women have been a part of the journey entering the challenging field of cardiothoracic surgery and rose to high positions. There is not much published work in India from the early years making the history largely oral, anecdotes told and retold by the legends themselves, stray papers, and the occasional preserved hospital records. The review explores the journey of the pioneering years from 1961 onwards when the first open heart surgery was performed. The time frame has been split into three parts demarcated by specific interventions, not all necessarily related to surgery. Some challenges from the past have been overcome; few have taken a new shape even as others loom large in the horizon.