Standing on the Shoulders of the Giants: Stories of 3 Pioneers

Abstract

The history of medicine and surgery is a rich source of interesting stories of genius and brave people who paved the way ahead of mankind towards the current status of medical and surgical practice. One has to admire the enthusiasms and courage of such people to whom millions of patients ought to be grateful. This paper reports the inspiring stories of 3 heart surgeons (Werner Forssmann, Dr. Lillehei and Dr. Michael E. DeBakey) and highlights their outstanding contributions to the modern cardiac surgery. It reminds the people to remember these three pioneers forever and encourages people working in this field to seek innovation.

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A. Taha and J. Shehatha, "Standing on the Shoulders of the Giants: Stories of 3 Pioneers," International Journal of Clinical Medicine, Vol. 5 No. 4, 2014, pp. 133-137. doi: 10.4236/ijcm.2014.54022.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1] Biographical Sketch of Werner Forssmann (1904-1979), 2013.
http://www.ptca.org/archive/bios/forssmann.html
[2] Wikipedia, “C. Walton Lillehei,” 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Walton_Lillehei
[3] D. A. Cooley, “C. Walton Lillehei, the “Father of Open Heart Surgery,” In Memoriam, Circulation, Vol. 100, 1999, pp. 1364-1365.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1161/01.CIR.100.13.1364
[4] L. K. Altman, “The Man on the Table Was 97, but He Devised the Surgery,” 2006.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/health/25surgeon.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5094&en=e9f039dd9b8b2d74&hp&ex=1167109200&partner=home
[5] Wikipedia, “Aortic Dissection,” 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aortic_dissection
[6] Wikipedia, “Michael E. DeBakey,” 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._DeBakey
[7] Wikipedia, “Standing on the Shoulders of Giants,” 2013.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants

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