Last in a five-part series End of an Era
This week 20 years ago
Christiaan Barnard became the most famous surgeon in the world by successfully transplanting a human heart. Yet so disastrous were the results of this new operation, that within two years it had been virtually abandoned.
Since this fiasco, surgery has undergone a change. Today's surgeon has accepted that he has to be a scientist, part of a team. And there are even signs that his ancient craft is being superseded by medical treatments which can do what surgery used to do, but without cutting deep.
Narrated by Alexander John Film editor PETER PARNHAM Written and produced by JON PALFREMAN
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