ABSTRACT
The advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in the late 1980s conceptually changed surgeons’ perceptions of operative procedures. The impact of these new perceptions affected not only general surgery, but most surgical specialties, and thoracoscopy was a natural extension of laparoscopic procedures. Cardiac sur gery, however, was considered by most to be insulated from a general acceptance of these new “minimally invasive” procedures. This concept has radically changed in the last several years.
