Dr. Edward L Bove
Cardiac Surgeon
Dr. Edward L. Bove is the chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery, which consists of the Divisions of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery. Dr. Bove's research interest in in the area of computer flow modeling of the circulation in complex congenital heart disease.
Families come from all over Michigan and around the nation and the world to have their children's heart defects diagnosed and treated by Bove. He is considered one of the world's outstanding pediatric cardiac surgeons and has been listed in Who's who in health and medical services and the best doctors in America every year since 1991. Bove and his colleagues at the congenital heart center perform more than 900 pediatric cardiac surgeries each year.
"I've always been interested in understanding the mechanics of how things are put together. What I love about pediatric cardiac surgery is that it's constructive, rather than remove something I build something." "it means a lot to me, that babies benefit."-Bove
today Bove performs about 300 corrective heart surgeries each year and more than 40% of his patients come from outside Michigan. Bove is known not only for his skill as a surgeon but also for his calming demeanor and compassionate bedside manner.
While attending medical school in upstate New York, Bove was assigned to pediatric cardiology and saw a patient with tetralogy ofFallot, a common congenital heart defect commonly known as "blue baby syndrome." he rotated to thoracic surgery next so he had the unique opportunity to follow the child's progress. "that child started out so blue and I thought he would never make it. I stayed up with him all night after his surgery and to my amazement the next morning he looked terrific. he survived and went home - I thought it was just incredible! that experience really catalyzed my interest in in the field."
Bove is particularly renowned for his work with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS). sometimes described as having "half a heart", HLHS is a condition in which the left side of the heart fails to develop properly in the womb and can't pump blood to the body.
"the first six HLHS babies i operated on died on the table. it was rough . we knew these kids didn't have a chance without surgery but to lose them so consistently was incredibly discouraging. then finally, the seventh baby - baby paul - survived. i remember the ICU nurses were so surprised. with our dismal results up until then, the nurses had stopped preparing a post - op bed - they figured the patient would die. it was such a thrill for all of us when paul pulled through. paul lived another 18 months but then died shortly after his second surgery. it was such a blow to lose him that i seriously considered giving up on HLHS. but then i received a letter from his parents thanking me for giving them the extra time with their son and encouraging me to stick with it. to this day i cherish that letter and still reflect on it whenever i'm feeling low. it's the kids and their parents who keep me going" -Bove
bove has trained more than 36 surgeons to follow in his footsteps, many of whom now lead pediatric cardiovascular surgery centers throughout the world.
Bove said he doesn't view the 10,000 mark with as much pride as he does the 36 pictures that hang outside his office. Each of the pictures is a surgeon Bove has trained at the U-M Health System.
"Operating on a person is really a privilege." Bove said and hasn't lost its brevity. "It's not just the child's life, it's not just one patient but a whole family. The hardest things are when the kids grow up and they have personalities." The emotional and physical toll of being a surgeon keeps Bove on his toes. "You can't have a bad day." Bove said he constantly evaluates his sharpness as a surgeon and will step away from the operating table when he knows it's time to retire but that's not coming anytime soon he said. "That's the best thing I can say about my career or my life: I wouldn't change anything."
