The patient died, but the meeting was a success

As this article in the Indy Star makes clear, televised surgery used to educate a meeting s attendees on a specific technique is not without risks.

Hundreds of doctors watched on live video as Italian surgeons replaced a man's heart valve without cutting open his chest. Then something went wrong.

The valve was in place, but his heart was failing as the live telecast to Washington ended. Two hours later, the 77-year-old died in a Milan hospital.

The surgery, telecast to doctors gathered here for an international meeting, was not the first associated with this cutting-edge experiment& But it illustrates the hazards of broadcasting straight from the operating room, a popular way of teaching new techniques to doctors at medical meetings.

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