**Publisher's Description** *"The Path to the Heart"* is a compelling exploration of our contemporaries, the individuals shaping Soviet medicine. The lives of its heroes are filled with intense, often dramatic struggles against illness and death. In the fight for their patients' lives, it is those who blend profound scientific knowledge with genuine compassion for the suffering who emerge victorious. Among them is the remarkable surgeon P. A. Kupriyanov, along with the dedicated doctors at the Burn Center of the S. M. Kirov Military Medical Academy in Leningrad, and the staff of blood transfusion institutes in Moscow and Leningrad. Some chapters of the book take readers into the creative laboratories where the tools of medicine are forged. Here, pharmacologist Professor N. V. Lazarev develops new medicinal compounds, while pathophysiologist Professor I. R. Petrov lays the groundwork for surgical advancements. Collaborative teams of doctors and engineers are busy inventing cutting-edge medical devices and instruments. *"The Path to the Heart"* celebrates the triumph of innovative scientific thought and the victories of domestic medicine. Other works by the author include *People Among People* and *Panacea - Daughter of Aesculapius*.