Obituary

Dr Peter Gibson

Dr Peter Gibson Dr Peter Gibson was born on October 11, 1923 and died on August 29, 2007, just six weeks before his 84th birthday.

Peter was one of the world's pioneer cardiac surgeons and I believe a very important Western Australian who has never been adequately recognised, except by his colleagues.

He made an enormous contribution to the development of cardiothoracic surgery in this state. Over a period of 40 years, Peter was thoracic surgeon to Royal Perth, Sir Charles Gairdner, Fremantle and Princess Margaret hospitals.

Peter graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at Melbourne University and following his post graduate surgical training he specialised in thoracic surgery. During the 1950s
his work was mainly with the surgical treatment of pulmonary complications of tuberculosis.

With the almost total elimination of pulmonary tuberculosis in the late 1950s the thoracic surgeons turned their attention to closed cardiac surgery.

Experimental surgeon

In the late 50s and early 60s Peter and Archie Simpson become involved in a long period of experimental surgical work on dogs, to develop a local experience in open heart surgery, operating with extracorporeal circulation.

Peter and Archie made important early contributions to the use of hypothermia in association with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Once the technique of cardiopulmonary bypass was established, Peter and Archie embarked on a long series of successful operations for the repair of various congenital heart defects including ASD, VSD, Pulmonary Valve Stenosis and Fallot's tetralogy. The operations were performed at RPH and PMH.

This surgical duo were the first in Australia to implant a permanent cardiac pacemaker in the very early 1960s and they reported their method in the Lancet.

Attention to detail

In the mid 1960s their attention turned to mitral and aortic valve replacement. Archie Simpson resigned in the 70s and Peter became Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at RPH.
At this time surgical attention was being focused on coronary artery bypass surgery. With increasing experience in this surgery, excellent survival figures were obtained, increasing the confidence of
cardiologists in the procedure and increasing the ease with which they referred cases for operation.

By the late 1970s, the number of cardiac surgical operations per week had increased from the original 1-2 cases to as many as 16, under Peter's zealous supervision and attention to detail.
Most of Perth's current cardiac surgeons have had their initial cardiothoracic surgical training from Peter and he has played a major role in the selection of the cardiac surgeons currently employed here.

We have an excellent cardiac surgery service and for this we should be thankful to Peter for the work he did in developing it. Major contribution Another area where Peter made a major contribution was his steadfast support for an intensive care unit to be developed at RPH. In the mid
60s severe chest injuries from car accidents wer e common due to drink driving, seat belts not worn and non-collapsible steering wheels.

There was a remarkable series of patients with traumatic rupture of the thoracic aorta, successfully treated without loss of life. Peter developed our strategy for the management of these patients.
During this period Peter was the first to recognise tracheal stenosis after prolonged positive pressure ventilation and published the initial work on the subject in "Thorax".

In this he described the cause, recognition, prevention and surgical treatment of the complaint with a major contribution from Mr Harold McComb.

During the 1960s Peter was an active member of the WA branch of the National Safety Council of Australia and was a major agitator in the push for State legislation making the wearing of seat belts
compulsory and the introduction of the first compulsory blood alcohol level 0.08 legislation. At the time this legislation had a dramatic effect in reducing the incidence of severe chest trauma.

Caring for his patients

Peter's service was always superb and was characterised by his care for patients, attention to clinical detail, superb surgical technique, extensive cardiothoracic experience and excellent judgement in perioperative management. It was a sad day when he retired from surgery
on July 1, 1994.

An even sadder day came when we learnt of the ultimately terminal and untreatable neurological condition he had developed. He put up with this condition with amazing grace and fortitude. I know, however, that as the condition progressed he was extremely frustrated at this almost total inability to vocally communicate with his friends. His death on August 29 was a happy release for him and for this we should be thankful.

I must say that it has been a great honour for me to have been one of Peter's long term friends and his cardiologist and general physician. I will forever continue to miss Peter's presence.

Dr James Robinson