Breakthrough!

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Breakthrough! Page 8

by Jim Murphy


  98 “It took quite some time . . . lobby”: Thomas, 221.

  Following Blalock’s death, Vivien Thomas sank into a depression for several years, during which he did very little research work. Eventually he resumed his research and remained the supervisor of the surgical laboratory at Johns Hopkins until 1985, for a total of thirty-five years. After receiving his honorary doctorate, he was named an instructor of surgery at the school, an extraordinarily rare appointment for someone who was neither a surgeon nor a doctor. He died of pancreatic cancer in 1985.

  By this time, everyone at Johns Hopkins knew about Thomas’s genius for research and his remarkable surgical skills; many other surgeons in the United States also knew about him. The world learned about him posthumously in August 1989, when Katie McCabe published her National Magazine Award–winning article, “Like Something the Lord Made,” in Washingtonian magazine. Over the years, additional honors came Thomas’s way: the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation set up the Vivien Thomas Scholarship for Medical Science and Research; the Journal of Surgical Case Reports named its annual award for best-written case report for Thomas; and the Baltimore City Public School System opened the Vivien T. Thomas Medical Arts Academy, a high school with a focus on the health professions, mathematics, and sciences.

  Both Vivien Thomas and Alfred Blalock prided themselves on the medical students they trained and sent out into the world. Many of these individuals became world famous and innovative surgeons, with more than twenty of them heading up cardiac departments in hospitals throughout the United States. Thomas was especially proud of welcoming and mentoring a succession of African American students, one of whom was his nephew Koco Eaton.

  99 “As for me . . . to be me”: Thomas, 219–20.

  Bibliography

  Baldwin, Joyce. To Heal the Heart of a Child: Helen Taussig, M.D. New York: Walker and Company, 1992.

  Beeson, Paul B., and Walsh McDermott. Textbook of Medicine. Philadelphia: W. B. Saunders Company, 1967.

  Blalock, Alfred, and Helen B. Taussig. “The Surgical Treatment of Malformations of the Heart in Which There Is Pulmonary Stenosis or Atresia.” Journal of the American Medical Association 128 (1945): 189–202.

  Comroe, Julius H. Exploring the Heart: Discoveries in Heart Disease and High Blood Pressure. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1983.

  Gilbert, Lynn, and Gaylan Moore. Particular Passions: Talks with Women Who Have Shaped Our Times. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1981.

  Harvey, W. Proctor. “A Conversation with Helen Taussig.” Medical Times 106, no. 11 (1978): 28–44.

  McNamara, Dan G., ed. “Helen Brooke Taussig: 1898 to 1986.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 10, no. 3 (1987): 662–66.

  Partners of the Heart. PBS documentary, transcript. www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/filmmore/pt.html.

  Ravitch, M. M. The Papers of Alfred Blalock. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1966.

  Schwertly-McNamara, Cathy. Memoirs of a Blue Baby. Bloomington, Ind.: Xlibras, 2010.

  Shumacker, Harris B. The Evolution of Cardiac Surgery. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.

  Stoney, William S. Pioneers of Cardiac Surgery. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press, 2008.

  Taussig, Helen B. Congenital Malformations of the Heart. New York: Commonwealth Fund, 1947.

  Thomas, Vivien T. Partners of the Heart. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1985.

  Walsh, Mart Roth. Doctors Wanted: No Women Need Apply: Sexual Barriers in the Medical Profession, 1835–1975. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1977.

  Weisse, Allen B. Heart to Heart: The Twentieth Century Battle Against Cardiac Disease. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2002.

  Wilkerson, Isabel. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration. New York: Random House, 2010.

  Picture Credits

  Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions: 5, 6, 18, 31, 34 (bottom), 36, 39, 46, 52, 56, 69, 72-73, 77, 79, 84, 85, 88, 90, 93, 94, 96, 97, 99

  Author’s collection: 83

  Bettmann/Corbis: 67, 80

  Duke University Medical Archives: 17, 23, 62, 87

  Estate of Yosef Karsh: 12, 82

  Hulton Archive/Getty Images: 43

  Leon Schlossberg drawing/JAMA: 49

  Library of Congress: 4, 21

  Morton Tadder/Baltimore: 33

  National Library of Medicine: 34 (top), 64

  New Contributed Photographs Collection, Otis Historical Archives, National Museum of Health and Medicine: 24

  Oklahoma Historical Society: 9

  Texas Heart Institute, www.texasheart.org: 59

  With permission of the Thomas family: 2

  Index

  A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I |J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q |R | S | T | U |V | W | X | Y | Z

  Page numbers in bold refer to photos and illustrations.

  A

  anesthesia, xii, 22, 60–61, 63, 67, 67, 68, 113

  animal rights, 42, 43, 45

  animals, experimental

  Anna (dog), 88, 88

  at Johns Hopkins, 1, 22, 42, 45, 46, 110–11

  overview, 42–44, 45, 110

  in tetralogy of Fallot research, 47–54, 58, 69–70

  antibacterials, 74, 75, 91–92

  B

  Baltimore, MD, 1–4, 4

  Begg, Dr. Alexander, 32

  birth defects

  heart, 29, 33–34, 41 (See also tetralogy of Fallot)

  from thalidomide, 84

  Blalock, Dr. Alfred, 12, 17, 79, 80

  background, 10–11, 56–57

  confidence issues, xii–xiii, 55, 58, 59, 64, 66–67

  death, 119

  description, 13

  education, 56–57

  first meeting with Taussig, 37, 39–40, 117–18

  notoriety, 76–80, 77, 82, 82–83, 116, 118–19

  other blue baby surgeries, 76, 81, 82, 82–83, 86

  personality, 10, 78, 80

  portrait, 96

  relationship with Taussig, 38, 85–86, 109

  relationship with Thomas, xiii, 10–11, 14–15, 55, 58, 70–71, 86–92

  reputation, 16, 36, 57, 80–81, 82, 113

  Saxon’s surgery, xi–xiii, 63, 66–74, 72–73

  Saxon’s treatment, 58–60, 62, 64–65

  shock research, 16–17, 24, 25–26, 40, 81

  as a teacher, 17, 18, 120

  tetralogy of Fallot research, 40–41, 45–54, 55, 86

  at Vanderbilt, 17, 23, 53, 57

  See also Hunterian Laboratory

  blood

  oxygenation, 27, 34, 40, 47–50, 53, 72–73, 114–15

  whole blood or plasma, 24, 25

  blue baby syndrome. See tetralogy of Fallot

  C

  Children’s Cardiac Clinic, xii, 29, 32, 37–38, 39, 64, 84

  clamp, Blalock, 51, 52, 112

  Cooley, Dr. Denton A., 38, 55, 59, 60, 64, 70, 95

  D

  Davis, Jefferson, 10

  ductus arteriosus, patent, 34–35

  E

  Eaton, Koco, 120

  F

  Fallot, Étienne-Louis Arthur, 34, 34, 108

  G

  Great Depression, 21, 22, 106

  Gross, Dr. Robert E., 34, 34, 35, 39, 44, 118

  H

  Haller, Dr. J. Alex, Jr., 55–56, 56, 80

  Harmel, Dr. Merel, 62–63, 68, 71, 114–15

  Harrison, Tinsley, 56–57

  heart, dog, 48–50, 69–70

  heart, human

  anatomy, 27, 49

  congenital disease, 29, 33–34, 41 (See also tetralogy of Fallot)

  development, 27–29, 28, 34

  modern inventions to treat, 44, 45, 75–76, 81, 115

  in pathology museum, 29, 41, 45

  heart surgery

  on an infant, 49, 50, 69

  artificial heart, 61, 81, 95

  heart transplant, 61, 95

&nb
sp; history of, 61–62, 115

  open-heart, 44

  on Saxon, xi–xiii, 63, 66–74, 72–73

  tools and supplies, 45, 48–51, 52, 63, 68–69, 69, 81–83, 112–13

  Heimbecker, Dr. Raymond A., 94

  Hunterian Laboratory

  “Dog House,” 1, 5

  experimental animals, 1, 42, 45, 110–11

  housekeeper issues, 13–14

  poor condition of, 1, 4–7, 6

  surgery class, 93

  hypertension, 35, 40, 53

  J

  Johns Hopkins Hospital

  notoriety, 76–77, 77, 81, 82–83

  Saxson’s surgery, xi–xiii, 63, 66–74, 72–73

  surgical house staff, 79

  veterinary clinic, 111

  Watkins at, 93, 94

  See also Children’s Cardiac Clinic

  Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  Blalock’s responsibilities, 8, 14, 57–58, 62, 62, 63, 92

  notoriety, 81

  rejection of Blalock, 57

  salary issues, 106

  Taussig as student, 32

  See also Hunterian Laboratory

  Johnson, Lyndon B., 84–85, 85

  Johnson & Johnson, 51, 83

  L

  Lamont, Dr. Austin, xii, 60–61, 62, 113

  Lillehei, Dr. C. Walton, 43–44

  Longmire, Dr. William, 64

  and Saxon, xi–xiii, 60, 64, 71, 72, 73

  surgical tool development, 51, 112

  lungs, 49–50

  M

  media attention, 76–78, 77, 116

  Mitchell, Charlotte, 60

  needles, suturing, 51, 63

  Nelson, Dr. Russell, 96–97

  O

  oxygen

  blood oxygenation, 27, 34, 40, 47–50, 53, 72–73, 114–15

  supply to the fetus, 28

  tent to administer, 58

  used during surgery, 63

  Paget, Dr. Stephen, 61

  post-operative care, 75–76, 115

  Poth, Dr. Edgar, 7–8, 11, 13–14

  prejudice. See racial discrimination; sex discrimination

  Puryear, Clara Belle, 67

  R

  racial discrimination

  Jim Crow laws, 3–4, 4, 10, 14

  against Thomas, xiii, 3–4, 7, 10–15, 91–93, 98, 106

  violence in the South, 8–9, 9

  S

  Saxon, Eileen

  background, 116

  condition, 58, 63, 65, 76, 114–15

  death, 116

  notoriety, 76–78, 77

  post-surgery, 75–76

  surgery, xi–xiii, 63, 66–74, 72–73

  treatment, 58–60, 62–65

  Schatz, Albert, 91–92

  scientific creativity, 53

  scientific credit, 91–92

  sex discrimination, 31, 108

  Sherwood, Elizabeth, 63

  shock, 16–17, 24, 25–26, 40, 42, 119

  Stensen, Niels, 108

  sterile environment, 115

  T

  Taussig, Dr. Helen, 36, 80

  background, 29–30

  description, 29

  education, 30–32

  first meeting with Blalock, 37, 39–40, 117–18

  head of Children’s Cardiac Clinic, xii, 29, 32, 37–38, 84

  heart defects research, 29, 35, 40, 41, 83–84, 87, 117–18

  notoriety, 78–79, 83–86, 85

  portraits, 84, 117

  relationship with Blalock, 38, 51, 85–86, 109

  and Saxon, 58–60, 63–64, 71, 72

  treatment style, 32–33, 33, 37–38, 39, 41

  Taussig, Frank William (father), 29–30, 31

  tetralogy of Fallot (blue baby syndrome)

  first description, 108

  incidence rate, 108

  medical lectures on, 78–80

  mortality rate, 34

  overview, 33–34

  research by Thomas and Blalock, 40–42, 45–54, 55, 58, 86

  surgeries, 76, 77, 81–83, 82, 86, 87 (See also Saxon, Eileen)

  and Taussig, 35, 40–41, 117–18

  thalidomide, 84

  Thomas, Clara (wife), 2

  Thomas, Mary (mother), 19

  Thomas, Vivien, 90, 100

  background, 19–22, 89, 98

  and Blalock’s death, 119

  description, 5, 10, 98

  education and degrees, 21–22, 94, 99

  family, 2

  first meeting with Taussig, 37, 39–40

  notoriety, 94–99, 119–20

  other blue baby surgeries, 76, 81, 82–83, 86, 87

  personality, 19, 86, 98, 110

  portrait, 95–98, 97

  and Poth, 7–8, 11–12

  racial discrimination against, xiii, 3–4, 7, 10–15, 91–93, 98, 106

  relationship with Blalock, xiii, 10–11, 14–15, 55, 58, 70–71, 76, 86–92

  research assist. at Johns Hopkins, 1–2, 4–8, 10–15, 25, 40–42, 45–56, 46, 68, 86–92, 106

  research assist. at Vanderbilt, 10, 17–19, 22–25, 23, 53

  and Saxon, xiii, 60, 63, 66–71

  surgical skills, 46, 50–51, 89–90, 93, 94–95, 119

  surgical tool development, 51, 52, 63, 81–82, 112

  as a teacher, 93, 95, 120

  work ethic, 19, 20, 98

  Thomas, William (father), 19

  tuberculosis, 30, 57, 91–92

  V

  Vanderbilt University, 6, 10, 16–19, 22–25, 23, 53, 57, 92

  W

  Watkins, Dr. Levi, Jr., 91–93, 94

  Waxman, Dr. Selman, 92

  White, Shaun, 108

  World War II, 1, 24, 25, 67

  Wyeth, Jamie, 84, 117

  About the Author

  JIM MURPHY has written numerous nonfiction books for young readers. His book An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793 received a Newbery Honor and the Sibert Medal and was a National Book Award finalist. His most recent book for Clarion, cowritten with his wife, Alison Blank, was Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure, of which Kirkus Reviews said in a starred review, “Who knew the biography of a germ could be so fascinating?”

  Jim lives in New Jersey with his family.

  Learn more at jimmurphybooks.com

 

 

 


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