Closure of atrial septal defects with the aid of hypothermia; experimental accomplishments and the report of one successful case.

Lewis performed the first successful open heart operation, closing an atrial septal defect in a 5-year-old girl on September 2, 1952. The procedure took 5.5 minutes. For the next three years Lewis and colleagues operated on 60 patients with atrial septal defects using hypothermia and venous inflow occlusion.