Reminiscences of Vasilii I. Kolesov

Vasilii I. Kolesov (1904-1992) as a military surgeon during the Siege of St . Petersburg (1941-1944) treated countless war causalities, and after the S iege, he also attended many survivors who suffered from coronary artery dis ease. It was probably this second mission that led him on February 25, 1964 , to anastomose the left internal thoracic artery to a coronary. That opera tion ushered a new era in the modern treatment of coronary artery disease. (Ann Thorac Surg 1999;67:273-6) (C) 1999 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeon s.