C. Walton Lillehei 1246537 213980451 2008-05-21T16:51:59Z Mkamensek 577779 {{Infobox Medical Person |name = Clarence Walton Lillehei |image = |box_width = |image_width = |caption = Clarence Walton Lillehei |birth_date = {{birth date|1918|10|23}} |birth_place = [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]<br/>[[United States]] |death_date = {{death date and age|1999|07|05|1918|10|23}} |death_place = |profession = [[Surgeon]] |specialism = [[cardiothoracic surgery]] |research_field = [[open-heart surgery]] |known_for = Pioneering open heart surgery. |years_active = |education = [[University of Minnesota]] |work_institutions= [[University of Minnesota]] |prizes = [[Harvey Prize]] in Science and Technology<br/> Nobel Medicine Prize nominee |relations = }} '''Clarence Walton Lillehei''' ([[October 23]], [[1918]]&ndash;[[July 5]], [[1999]]), was an American surgeon who pioneered open-heart surgery, as well as numerous techniques, equipment and prostheses for cardiothoracic surgery. ==Biography== C. Walt Lillehei was born in [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]]. He earned five degrees at the [[University of Minnesota]], including his [[Bachelor of Science|B.S.]] (with distinction) in [[1939]], his [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]] (Alpha Omega Alpha) in [[1942]], his [[Master of Science|M.S.]] in [[physiology]] in [[1951]], and his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] in [[surgery]] in 1951. A Department of Surgery professor at the University of Minnesota from 1951 to [[1967]], Lillehei participated in the world's first successful open-heart operation using hypothermia. In 1944, [[Alfred Blalock]] at Johns Hopkins University had begun successfully performing surgery on the great vessels around the heart to relieve the symptoms of tetralogy of Fallot, demonstrating that heart surgery could be possible. Young and brash, Lillehei completed, at age 35, the first successful surgical repair of the heart on [[September 2]], [[1952]]. That historic operation, using [[hypothermia]], was led by his longtime friend and colleague, Dr. F. John Lewis. Hypothermia, however, only gave a brief window during which surgery could be performed and was therefore not suited for complex [[congenital defects]] within the heart. To resolve this problem, Lillehei performed surgeries using cross-circulation, in which a donor was hooked up nearby to take up the pumping and oxygenation functions of the patient as he was being operated on. Using this technique, Lillehei led the team that performed successful repair of a ventricular septal defect on [[March 26]], [[1954]]. Although the repair was successful, the patient, 13-month old Gregory Glidden, died 11 days later of suspected pneumonia. Lillehei and his team continued to use cross-circulation for a total of 44 open-heart operations in the following year, of which 32 patients survived. These surgeries included the first repairs of the [[atrioventricular canal]] and [[tetralogy of Fallot]]. In July of that year, a successful operation was performed on [[Mike Shaw (heart operation patient)|Mike Shaw]]. Lillehei was cooperated with Professor [[Moshe Gueron]] who was recognized as "The Cardiology Founder of Israel"<ref>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Gueron</ref> as well as with Professor [[Morris J. Levy]] by doing the first Cardiac Puncture [[Catheterization]] research which was experienced in 80 patients during 1964.<ref>http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/reprint/45/5/449.pdf</ref> In [[1958]], Lillehei was responsible for the world's first use of a small, external, portable, battery-powered [[artificial pacemaker|pacemaker]], invented at his behest by [[Earl Bakken]] (whose then-small company, [[Medtronic]], designed and repaired electronics for the University of Minnesota hospital). Lillehei also developed and implanted the world's first [[prosthetic]] [[heart valves]]: the Lillehei-Nakib toroidal disc ([[1966]]), the Lillehei-Kaster pivoting disc (1967), and the Kalke-Lillehei rigid bileaflet prosthesis ([[1968]]). A dedicated educator, Lillehei trained more than 150 cardiac surgeons from 40 nations, including [[Christiaan Barnard]] (a fellow University of Minnesota Ph.D. recipient in the 1950s who went on to perform the world's first [[heart transplant]] in [[South Africa]]). In 1967, he was appointed [[Lewis Atterbury Stimson]] professor and chairman of the surgery department at Cornell Medical Center, New York. He returned to [[St. Paul, Minnesota]], in [[1975]], where he became the director of medical affairs at [[St. Jude Medical|St. Jude Medical, Inc]]. He was also named a clinical professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota. Lillehei's countless honors include the [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]] for [[World War II]] service in [[Italy]], the 1955 [[Lasker Award]], induction in [[1993]] into the Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame, and the 1996 [[Harvey Prize]] in Science and Technology. In 1966-67, he served as president of the [[American College of Cardiology]]. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Medicine. ==References== <references /> *[http://www.med.umn.edu/lhi/AboutLHI/cwl.html Mary Knatterud, Research Associate & Assistant Professor, Dept. of Surgery University of Minnesota Medical School] * G.Wayne Miller. King of hearts, The true story of the maverick who pioneered the open heart surgery. Times Books, 2000 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lillehei, C. Walton}} [[Category:American physicians]] [[Category:1918 births]] [[Category:1999 deaths]] [[Category:University of Minnesota alumni]] [[Category:People from Minnesota]] [[de:Clarence Walton Lillehei]]