Removal of a needle from the heart. Recovery of the patient.

"The first occasion on which a surgeon deliberately operated on an injured heart was in October 1872. This followed a brawl in a public house in East London, after which a 31-year-old man could not find a needle he usually kept in the left side of his coat. The next day he attended St. Bartholomew's Hospital, but the need was not found. Nine days later, pain and discomfort persisted, and on return to St. Bartholomew's he was admitted. The surgeon, George Callender, explored the area of discomfort and made an incision between the ribs. He eventually located the needle, which was embedded in the myocardium close to the apex. The needle was removed and the patient made an uneventful recovery" (Westaby and Bosher, Landmarks in cardiac surgery, 14).