Cardiology classics : Bernard Lown . . . The cardiologist who won Nobel “ peace ” prize !

Great men dream , but they just do not sit idle. They do what they are passionate about .History just follows them or they create it.Here is a brief story of an ordinary man born in a small European country Lithuania in 1921  ,lived much of his  life in the east coast of USA ,transformed into a brilliant cardiologist  based in Brigham Hospital , Boston. He is Dr Bernard Lown , best known as a founder of what is used in every coronary care unit and cardiac surgical theaters around the world . Yes, the DC cardioversion was invented by Lown in the year 1961.(Of course,  it was an Improvement  upon the  pioneering work of Zoll’s AC power line  for defibrillating   the heart  which was impractical and caused much injury )   Dr.Bernard Lown (Born 1921) ,With his Invention of DC Cardioversion machine Currently  working in  Harvard University   He was also the brain behind the  conversion of local anesthetic agent Lignocaine to cardiac anesthetiic  which revolutionized the treatment of ventricular arrhythmia.(What a simple  but a path breaking  idea to use membrane stabilising action of local anesthesia to sedate the heart when it behaves erratically !) We can also credit him for  rediscovering  Digoxin and found the secret that potassium supplementation can largely overcome  toxicity of this drug which was otherwise lifesaving in dilated , failing hearts  running amok with delirium tremors (Surname for Atrial fibillation in those days !) While t...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: history of cardiology Histroy of medicine bernard lown dc cardioversion Source Type: blogs