Ahead of his time: Gross’ first successful ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus

Invitation for controversy

“…Gross was not afraid to tackle controversial surgeries, reportedly performing the first PDA closure as a surgical resident and purposely waiting until Dr. William Ladd, Chief of Surgery at Boston Children's Hospital who opposed the surgical approach, left for summer vacation. 2 To his own credit, Dr. Ladd was the first to demonstrate that surgical correction of intussusception was advantageous to enemas and should be pursued without delay. 3 Appropriately, we use the term pioneer to describe such persons…”