Lillehei solved that problem with cross-circulation, in which a donor, linked to the patient by plastic hose and a simple pump, acted as a living heart-lung machine.
But he said that because it was the first time an epidural had been used in heart surgery "we kept ready as a standby the conventional method of heart surgery through a heart and lungmachine".
For years, surgeons had the technical tools to make simple repairs on the heart, but they couldn't help patients until the development of the heart-lung machine made it possible to preserve the body for more than a few minutes without a heartbeat.