Correspondence, John R. Paine to Dean Theodore Blegen of the Graduate School requesting to apply for a grant for heart research

Correspondence, John R. Paine to Dean Theodore Blegen of the Graduate School requesting to apply for a grant for heart research

Open Heart Surgery

In October of 1944 at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, Clarence Crafoord performed the first successful repair of coarctation of the aorta—a narrowing of the aorta, the major blood vessel that delivers oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. One month later, in November 1944, Alfred Blalock of The Johns Hopkins University performed the first Blalock-Taussig shunt procedure, a palliative procedure that eased the symptoms of tetralogy of Fallot, also known as “blue baby syndrome.” “Blue babies” suffered from cyanosis—appearance of a blue coloration on the skin due to low blood oxygenation as a result of a hole in the wall that divides the left and right ventricles in the heart (ventricular septal defect). The shunt re-routed the flow of blood through the heart, easing cyanosis. John Paine, associate professor of surgery, requested a grant from the Graduate School to enable him to perform related research on these procedures.

John R. Paine

"Graduate School grants, 1941-1954," Box 14, Department of Surgery records, uarc1007, University of Minnesota Archives

University of Minnesota

20-May-46

University of Minnesota

Use of this image is governed by U.S. and international copyright laws. Image is property of the University of Minnesota. Please contact the University of Minnesota Archives for permission to publish this image. http://special.lib.umn.edu/uarch

Document

eng

oh0054

Open Heart Surgery

Paper