LETTERS TO EDITOR
Prof. Zbigniew Lorkiewicz, M.D. (06.03.1924 – 20.12.2012)

In tribute to our teacher,

With sadness and nostalgia we look upon the company forms of the Society of Polish Cardiac Surgeons, as the successive names of its founding fathers are labeled with crosses, each one marking an unequivocal loss for Polish medicine. Last December, we bade farewell to Professor Zbigniew Lorkiewicz, a pioneer of Polish cardiac surgery.

Professor Lorkiewicz was one of the trailblazers for cardiac surgery in Poland. Together with his teacher, Professor Moll, and associates (Professor Poniżyński and Doctor Szelągowski), he created the first Polish heart-lung machine for extracorporeal circulation. Using their contacts in Germany and employing the help of engineers from the Hipolit Cegielski Metal Works, they continued to construct successive versions of the device. The name of Professor Lorkiewicz is also inseparably associated with the introduction of new biological valves (Poniżyński, Lorkiewicz), intra-aortic counterpulsation (Szuman, Lorkiewicz), and the use of cardioplegia (Kaszkowiak, Lorkiewicz).

Professor Lorkiewicz’s detailed biographical note was published on the occasion of his 80th birthday in the Polish Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (September 2004, Vol. 1, No. 3, page 20).

The fact that the hospital with which Professor Lorkiewicz was associated for the better part of his career no longer exists is of little significance; he lives on in our hearts and minds and will be forever remembered in the history of Polish cardiac surgery.



With reverence to his memory,

His students