History of cardiology : A soulful story of “ Dr.Thomas ” and his BT shunt

History is rarely kind to the original heroes in the scientific world.The classical Blalock-Taussig shunt,(BT shunt) the term we heard for the first time in the early clinical years of MBBS .We know, it as a dramatic cure (Palliative  though)  for the commonest congenital cyanotic heart disease -Tetralogy of Fallot. Now, half a century later, came to know, there is a gripping  story of an oppressed black hero behind this famous cardiac surgery. This post is  all about the  fascinating life of  Vivien Thomas,  a humble carpenter’s son from Nashville. While he dreamed to become a doctor, circumstances and fate had some thing different to offer .He could join only as helper in the wards of John Hopkins, Baltimore . His extraordinary hand skills were recognised  by then surgeon Alfred Blalock and made him  as an assistant in the Hopkins animal lab.He was working on a project to resuscitate traumatic shock victims then. Dr Helen Taussig who was a pediatric cardiologist was wondering whether Dr Blalock could offer some surgical cure for the sick  blue babies under her care. When Dr Blalock was brainstorming the problem , it was Thomas ,who created dog models of hypoxic circulation and  helped create the concept and methodology of diverting blood from subclavian artery to pulmonary artery .He single handedly operated  on nearly 200 dogs. He literally taught the chief surgeon Blalock  the delicate vascular suture tricks . Come October 24th 1944 , the first  blue b...
Source: Dr.S.Venkatesan MD - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Uncategorized baltimore john hopkins BT shunt dr blalock dr helen b taussig history of cardiology modified bt shunt something lord made vivien thomas Source Type: blogs