Valvuloplasty for mitral stenosis. Harken reported the first successful intracardiac operation for treatment of this lesion--a procedure was first attempted in the 1920s. Charles Bailey in Philadelphia undertook a similar approach at the same time, and according to Lawrence Cohn "These surgeons began the 'modern' era of cardiac surgery." (L. H. Cohn, "Surgical Treatment of Valvular Heart Disease," Am. J. Surg. 135, 444-451, 1978). With L. B. Ellis, P. F. Ware.