The Heart Healers (61 page)

sudden death with

systolic blood pressure and

ventricular septal defect (VSD)

cross-circulation patient with

surgery on dogs with

tetralogy of Fallot and

ventricular tachycardia

Vineberg, Arthur

Vineberg procedure

Virchow, Rudolph

Virmani, Renu

Vogel, Robert

VSD.
See
ventricular septal defect

vulnerable plaques

inflammatory process and

rupture process of

stable compared to

Wangensteen, Owen

Watson, Cecil

Watson, Thomas

weight.
See also
obesity

Weisse, Allen

“widow maker.”
See
left anterior descending

Wiggers, Carl

Willett, Walter

Williams, David

Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

World War II

cardiac surgery and

catheterization origin and

medical practice in

penicillin origins and

surgeons returning from

X-ray

Zocor.
See
simvastatin

Zoll, Paul

education of

external pacemaker and

heart block and

published work of

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THANKS FROM ALL
four chambers of my heart to Stuart Horowitz, Jeffrey Forrester, and Michael Flamini, each of whom made superb crucial editing contributions at different stages of the book. Treasured friends who read the draft and provided invaluable medical and nonmedical critiques and insights include Dr. France Doyle, Dr. Alex Dubelman, David Bancroft, and Richard Cain. Elizabeth Wilson and Margaret Knill saved me endless aggravation by skillfully tracking down copyrights for many of the illustrations. Although I never typed until after medical school, I can now text and email, and I surprised myself by typing the entire manuscript.

Deoxygenated “blue” blood returns from the body, is collected in the right atrium, and then pumped by the right ventricle to the lungs, where oxygen is added. Oxygen rich “red” blood is collected in the left atrium and then pumped by the left ventricle into the aorta for distribution throughout the body.

Square-jawed redhead Army officer Dwight Harken was an intriguing mix of a fiery-tempered surgeon and a charming raconteur. Courtesy
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard

Early pathologists bequeathed a cuisine of terms to modern medicine, seeing “vegetations” growing on a heart valve (top) that resemble clumps of broccoli (bottom).

Walt Lillehei survived personal tragedy in his medical training to pursue a professional career that traced the most exhilarating heights and devastating lows of anyone in my experience. Courtesy University of Minnesota Archives, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

The “impossible surgery” on cute little “Annie,” shown here with her father, astounded the world and won the heart of a nation. Innovative surgeon Walt Lillehei was not so fortunate. Courtesy University of Minnesota Archives, University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

John Gibbon, the scion of generations of physicians, was the polar opposite of fellow Philadelphian Charles Bailey. His single-minded two-decade quest to create a heart-lung machine was interrupted by service in the Pacific theater. Courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University, Archives & Special Collections

John Gibbon with the world’s first successful heart-lung machine patient, “Martha,” a college student with an atrial septal defect. What happened next is arguably the most improbable event in our entire chronicle. Courtesy of Thomas Jefferson University, Archives & Special Collections

One of my most treasured experiences in cardiology is how Sam Bachner, the man of La Mancha, saved the life of a little girl named “Maria.” So you can imagine my astonishment when I called him years later to learn what happened to that little girl. Courtesy Samuel Bachner

When Claude Beck was the first to realize a dream of mankind that stretches back to biblical times. Courtesy Dittrick Medical History Center