A live heart bypass operation, which was broadcast on 29 January from the Science Museum’s Dana Centre, went without a hitch, but has been criticised by experts at the British Heart Foundation as a ‘dubious’ exercise in attention seeking.

The operation was performed at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey and beamed live to large plasma screens at the Dana Centre where it was watched by a 70-strong audience. There was a slight time delay in transmission, however, in case of unforeseen problems.

Throughout the operation, which lasted around two hours, the surgeons wore microphones and answered questions.

Science Museum director, Lindsay Sharp, defended the decision to screen the operation. “The Dana Centre is a unique, innovative venue which delivers science in a very different way,” she said.

Dana Centre programmes co-ordinator, Lisa Jamieson, added: “The event went very well indeed and was very well attended. The medical teams were absolutely professional and there was far less gore than one might expect. The audience seemed engrossed by it and there were plenty of questions for the surgeons to answer.”

She added: “We believe it was of strong educational value for our audience and introduced them to health messages in a new and innovative way. The Dana Centre aims to engage the public in informed discussion and Cardiac Classroom is an excellent opportunity to include heart disease on this agenda.”

The British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) head of medical information, Belinda Linden, said: “We are pleased to hear the operation appeared to go without a hitch.”

However, Professor Sir Charles George, medical director of the BHF, questioned the need for a live broadcast at all: “The wisdom of it is somewhat dubious,” he said. “Any such procedure can occasionally give rise to problems and, were that to happen, it would create unnecessary strain for people who might be on a waiting list for similar procedures.

“Furthermore, such procedures inevitably place additional strain on the operator, which could affect his or her performance.”