Obituary: John Murray Neutze

John Neutze. Photo / Supplied

Professor John Neutze, a leading heart specialist, medical researcher and teacher, trained and mentored several generations of cardiologists and paediatricians.

He is remembered as a man with a common touch, sharp wit and quixotic sense of humour.

Neutze grew up in rural New Zealand during the Depression and war years, and was a humble man who cycled to work on an old bicycle.

He was suspicious of those who presumed authority, and in his later years set out to expose the intellectual shallowness of the ideologically driven healthcare reforms of the day.

His role as a health advocate was grounded in a selfless and caring personality that made him popular with patients, families and staff.

A meticulous approach to medical research, superb clinical skills and an untiring capacity for hard work placed him at the forefront of advances in the treatment of congenital heart defects in the 1960s and 70s.

Following medical studies at the University of Otago, Neutze trained at Green Lane Hospital in Auckland under Dr James Lowe before joining a leading fetal and infant cardiac research group in the United States.

At that time, most babies with severe heart defects died shortly after birth. While in the US, Neutze realised that the team in New Zealand had the ability to make a major contribution to this field. He also witnessed first-hand the problems inherent in privately funded medicine, which contributed to his lifelong support for a strong public health system.

He returned to New Zealand in 1967, and with surgeon Sir Brian Barratt-Boyes and cardiac radiologist Dr Peter Brandt further developed the world-leading cardiac unit at Green Lane Hospital. These were exciting times. Cardiac surgery using the heart-lung bypass machine was in its early days, and infant cardiac surgery was just around the corner.

Neutze was instrumental in a number of firsts in this field, including the first use of prostaglandin in the world, an event that was recorded in the journal The Lancet in 1975.

Prostaglandin revolutionised the treatment of newborn babies with heart conditions. It has allowed countless blue babies to survive so that cardiac surgery can be undertaken with low risk.

Neutze was a world expert in the care of children with rheumatic heart disease. He was chairman of the department of cardiology at Green Lane Hospital for 18 years, and received an honorary professorship from Auckland University in 1994.

His contribution to cardiology was further recognised in 2000 when he was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.

An extraordinary New Zealander who touched the lives of countless families, Neutze set the standard to which his colleagues aspire.

He is survived by Beverly, his wife of 54 years, three sons and six grandchildren.

John Murray Neutze, ONZM
1934-2011