PETER A. ALIVIZATOS, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Cardiac Surgeon – Heart & Lung Transplant Surgeon

He was born into a Greek medical family with a long tradition of achieving recognition through public service. After his medical studies and a residency in general surgery, he embarked on long and arduous training in the USA—after England—in order to qualify for the boards in general surgery, as well as in thoracic surgery. It was during those years that he had the rare opportunity to work under three “giants” who made history: Dwight E. Harken, the father of cardiac surgery; Richard R. Lower, the true pioneer of heart transplantation; and Sir Magdi H. Yacoub, the Renaissance genius of our times in cardiac surgery and transplantation. In 1985 he assumed responsibility for starting heart transplantation at Baylor University Medical Center and by the time he returned to Greece in 1996, the program had performed 233 heart, heart/lung and lung transplants, including all the “firsts” in North Texas. He created a similar program on a smaller scale at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens, based on the principles and lessons learned at Baylor, achieving survival well above internationally reported rates.

Mission… at a Price

The idea of writing the book came to me years ago when I read the graphic account Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, the poor little “Irish Catholic boy,” as he presents himself, who goes as an immigrant to the New World. I found I had much in common with him. The Anglo-Saxon environment is not more friendly to the Greeks than it is to the Irish. Family tradition may be equally as oppressive as the directives of the Catholic Church. And the German Occupation and its consequences leave indelible traces, like the deathly, sodden Limerick, Frank’s town.

What started as a short trip to fulfill the “mission” developed into the journey of a lifetime. As promised by the Alexandrian poet C. P. Cavafy in his poem “Ithaca,” it turned out to be a “beautiful journey.” There were, however, inconsistencies in his promises: I did not find Ithaca “poor”; rather, the opposite: it was full of golden beetles. And I did not meet the “Laistrygonians and the Cyclops,” the Homeric cannibals and monsters, on my way. They were waiting for me in Greece!

FOREWORD

During an exploratory visit to Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in late 1992, I was introduced to Peter Alexander Alivizatos, a charming, friendly, handsome, and most hospitable man, who had founded BUMC’s heart and lung transplant program in 1985. Peter was born in Athens, Greece, in 1937, graduated from the Athens University Medical School in 1962, and did his surgical training in Athens.
When he came to the USA in 1971, he had to repeat that training; initially, a one-year thoracic surgery fellowship with Dr. Dwight Harken (1910-1993) at Harvard followed by a year in thoracic surgery at BUMC. From 1973-1978 he was a resident in general surgery at the Boston University Medical Center, and then a resident in thoracic surgery at the Medical College of Virginia (now called Virginia Commonwealth University) in Richmond. There he worked with Dr. Richard Lower (1929-2008), who with Norman Shumway (1923-2006), were pioneers in heart transplantation. He then spent a year in thoracic surgery at the Hospital for Sick Children in London. From 1982-1984 he was the clinical assistant in heart transplantation at the Harefield Hospital in London, where he worked with Sir Magdi Yacoub (1935 – _____), another pioneer heart surgeon.

Peter had come to BUMC in 1985 to start and direct its heart and lung transplantation program, the first in Dallas, and an extremely successful one. In 1995, he returned to Athens, Greece, to start and head their heart transplantation program at the newly built Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center.

Peter Alivizatos is a scholar, a lover of the medical profession, always a “conservative transplanter,” and always devoted to his patients. This wonderful book places 10 of his previously published articles on heart and lung transplantation under one cover. Seven of the 10 articles had been published in the Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, a quarterly, peer-reviewed journal listed on PubMed. Peter covers beautifully the rewards and the difficulties of starting and running a heart and lung transplant program, which he did at 2 different institutions. His articles on fellow surgeons, Dwight Harken and Magdi Yacoub, display his loyalty to, respect for, and gratitude to these 2 mentors.
Peter has left a surgical legacy at two major institutions and now leaves another with this collection of splendid essays.

William C. Roberts, MD
Editor in Chief, Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings
and The American Journal of Cardiology

VIDEOS

Combined heart/lung-heart “domino” transplant, March 1989.

It was the Program’s greatest achievement. Although three more combined heart/lung transplants were subsequently performed, the “domino” remains unique in Baylor’s transplant history being among the first in the country and the only one in the Southwest.

Single lung transplant, July 1990.

Baylor performed the first single lung transplant in N.Texas on the 46-year old Gene from S.Carolina. He returned to his home thanks to John Capehart’s two-month dedicated care. Fifty more (single or double) lung transplants were done in the following five years.

Combined third heart/lung transplant, March 1993.
Double lung transplant, September 1993.

The year (1993) started with our third-and successful-combined heart/lung transplant on Sandra and was concluded with one more “first”, the double-lung transplant on Joyce, the beautiful 30-year old mother from Oklahoma. Two months later she sang at our transplant secretary Christie’s wedding!

NewHearts&Lungs, Farewell Banquet, March 1996.

The history of this splendid transplant support group and its founder, Eleanor Belanger, narrated by then President Chuck Collins.

J. Sinclair, Australian of the Year, honored speaker.
Farewell banquet, March 1996.

John Sinclair, A.O., the physically and morally erect environmental activist, delivers his comments as the Honored Speaker, on saving Fraser Island from the greedy ore diggers.

PETER A. ALIVIZATOS, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Mission… at a Price

FOREWORD

VIDEOS

Mission At a Price