Medical
Breakthroughs

1948 Physicians at LHSC are the first in the world to recognize sexual dimorphism in human cells, leading to new knowledge of the relationship between sex chromosome abnormalities and human disease

1951 The first cobalt bomb in the world is used to deliver radiation therapy to LHSC cancer patients

1957 The first open heart surgery in Southwestern Ontario at LHSC

1958 Dr. Charles Drake, LHSC neurosurgeon pioneers a surgical procedure for aneurysms at the base of the brain, called basilar aneurysms

1972 Operations begin on cerebral aneurysms using a technique that establishes LHSC’s worldwide reputation in neurosurgery

1981 LHSC surgeons perform the world’s first heart operation to correct life-threatening right ventricular dysplasia

1987 The world’s first pacemaker cardioverter defibrillator (PCD) is implanted in a patient at LHSC

1996 A team of LHSC researchers accomplishes a world first by developing a miniature recording device that monitors the heartbeat during fainting spells

1999 LHSC’s surgical team successfully completes the world’s first closed-chest, robotic-assisted beating heart coronary artery bypass graft

2000 LHSC’s surgical team performs the first minimally invasive robotic-assisted mitral valve heart surgery in Canada

2002 London Regional Cancer Centre is one of two sites in Canada and one of three in the world to have a tomotherapy unit, the newest in radiation treatment technology

2002 Neurosurgeons at LHSC complete the first artificial cervical disc replacement in North America

2005 World’s first robotic-assisted left atrial appendage ligation to reduce the chance of clot formation and stroke in high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation is performed at LHSC

2005 Canada’s first minimally invasive robotic-assisted double bypass surgery is performed at LHSC