Biography

Brian Barratt-Boyes graduated from the Otago University Medical School in his native New Zealand in 1946. He continued his training, as a surgeon, initially in New Zealand, and later at the Mayo Clinic (1953-5) and as a Nuffield Fellow in Bristol (1955-6). At Mayo he worked under John Kirklin, the two developing a high mutual regard that has endured and grown over the years.

He was recruited back to New Zealand, by Sir Douglas Robb in Auckland, in 1956 and pioneered the development of cardiopulmonary bypass in that country, the first patient being operated in 1958. While this task must have been made more difficult by New Zealand's relative remoteness and small population, the Green Lane Hospital surgical team quickly achieved an international reputation for innovative excellence. Indeed he suggested that Auckland's isolation conferred an advantage comparable to that enjoyed by the Mayo Clinic in small-town Rochester, Minnesota, making it less likely that day-to-day interruptions would interfere with the real purpose of their work. Much of the original equipment had to be fashioned or modified locally. Sid Yarrow, an engineer on the team, built an early external pacemaker for intra-operative use. The first permanent unit, from Medtronic, was implanted in 1961.

In 1962 he introduced, independently but simultaneously with Donald Ross in London, the human cadaveric aortic homograft for aortic valve replacement and for many years he worked to perfect valve preparation, emphasizing its inherent physiologic advantages and simplifying its surgical implant technique. He and his team's results became the standard for others to match.

In 1969 he brought the technique of profound hypothermia and circulatory arrest into the limelight as a practical method for dealing with major corrective surgery in neonates with congenital heart disease, in so doing further establishing Green Lane Hospital on the international stage. In recognition of these and other achievements he was knighted in 1971 further confirming a national prominence comparable to that achieved by Favaloro in Argentina and Barnard in South Africa. Barratt-Boyes, now Sir Brian, showcased the Green Lane experience at many international meetings as well as in workshops he hosted in Auckland. The 1987 Asian Pacific Congress was a particular success for him for the size of the international contingent it drew and the bright spotlight it shone on Green Lane's history of achievement. In 1985 he and John Kirklin published their authoritative text "Cardiac Surgery", a colossal achievement of more than 1500 pages that quickly became the standard reference for the sub-specialty.

Perhaps the introduction given by Christiaan Barnard to Barratt-Boyes 1986 biography "From the Heart" speaks best to the essence of this remarkable man:

"I had the privilege of meeting Sir Brian at Green Lane Hospital in Auckland where his surgical unit had achieved an international reputation. What struck me was his single-mindedness - a clear-sighted striving towards a goal and a vision. Little wonder that he refused to suffer bureaucratic limitations on his work and plans. Having gone down that same road, I can identify strongly with his epic fights with bureaucracy for a better deal for his unit and an improved health service for his country. Fame he had, fortune he spurned - turning down lucrative overseas offers and preferring instead to stay with the team he had built up and the country of his birth."

- Ronald Vlietstra