in this book of 'Art of operative techniques', we have put together a collection of illustrative articles to detail the critical steps in contemporary cardiothoracic surgical procedures. We hope that you will find this book to be informative and educational. All the figures in this book have been meticulous drawn by Beth Croce. Beth pursued a bio-artistic career through her postgraduate Art as Applied to Medicine program at the Johns hopkins Medical school in Baltimore, USA. she has been the primary illustrator for several key surgical texts, including preparing over 500 illustrations for 'ischemic heart disease: surgical Management', a comprehensive textbook that provides detailed up-to-date coverage for cardiac surgeons.