RESUMO
Zimbabwe; a developing country; to date enjoys one of the highest standards of health services in Sub-Saharan Africa and among other developing countries. The infrastructure for the health services which gained a good background from the colonial era continues to progress both in the maintenance and erection of new medical centres. This has greatly contributed to the establishement of the open heart surgery centre in Zimbabwe which has so far stood the test of time. The participation of the external agencies; the Loma Linda team; is highly commendable for the initial establishement of the open heart centre. Earlier efforts in heart surgery had not yielded a presentable structure. The present programme started in the mid 80's and despite some unavoidale problems it is persistently running with an aim of establishing a fully flagged centre in this part of Africa. Although expensive to maintain; it is hoped that this centre will continue to prosper and serve tha needs of Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries which can not afford the expenses of sending patients overseas. Research and man power training are part of the intentions of this centre. The historical background and progress of cardiac surgery in Zimbabwe is studied and presented in this dissertation. Descriptive statistics of the first fifty partients who underwent Open Heart Surgery are also presented; with special consideration given to anaesthetic management and outcome
