Giancarlo Rastelli: the scientist, the man.

Abstract

Doctor Giancarlo Rastelli graduated from the University of Parma, Italy (cum laude) in July 1957, and in 1961, moved to the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, New York.The name of Dr. Rastelli is recognized worldwide for the classification of the atrioventricular (AV) canal and for the procedure relating to the anatomical repair of transposition of the great arteries (TGA) with ventricular septal defect (VSD) and pulmonary stenosis (PS). The most extraordinary aspect of his successful research work was that it was mostly done during the five years when Dr. Rastelli was fighting against his fatal illness. He died at the age of 36 years. Dr. Rastelli's fame as a scientist now belongs to the history of medicine. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.