A five-decade odyssey in vascular surgery: reflections and optimism for the future

When I look back over my personal involvement of five and a half decades in vascular surgery, I become overwhelmed by the exponential growth and changes that have occurred in our field. The birth of modern vascular surgery occurred more than half a century ago, with recognition of the concepts of arterial disobliteration and bypass, appreciation of precise anatomic exposures, invention and deployment of critical tools that included safe X-ray machines, contrast media, graft materials, sutures, intravenous solutions, blood banking, and the ingenious array of paraphernalia we deploy in surgery. The description of vascular surgery, as “the surgery of relics” is no longer apt or appropriate. Vascular surgery now encompasses the young and the old, those with established disease and others with the potential for infirmity. Improving the quality of life is now essential in deciding therapeutic efficacy. How did this come about? The basis for all these developments is