From Ice Buckets to ECMO: 43 Years of Heart Surgery with Lee Aldridge

What did heart surgery look like before modern technology, advanced monitoring, and standardized protocols?

Lee Aldridge spent more than 43 years in perfusion and witnessed the field evolve from the early days of heart-lung machines to the technology used today. In this episode, he joins the Device Girls to share the stories behind that evolution, including equipment adjusted with wrenches, ice used to stop the heart, 61-hour shifts, early ECMO and LVAD technology, and the trial and error that helped shape modern cardiac surgery.

Lee also shares the deeply personal side of his career, including raising a son with congenital heart disease, caring for more than 1,000 pediatric patients, and why he continues teaching the next generation even after retirement.

From the terrifying realities of early cardiac surgery to the innovations that now save lives every day, this conversation is a look at just how far medicine has come and the people who helped get us here.

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