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Michael E. DeBakey

 
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: Michael Ellis DeBakey
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(born Sept. 7, 1908, Lake Charles, La., U.S. — died July 11, 2008, Houston, Texas) U.S. cardiovascular surgeon. He received an M.D. from Tulane University. In 1932 he devised the "roller pump," an essential component of the heart-lung machine. His work with the U.S. Surgeon General's office led to the development of mobile army surgical hospitals (MASH units) and the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital research system. He also developed an efficient method of grafting frozen blood vessels to correct aortic aneurysms and pioneered the use of plastic tubing instead of grafts (1953). He was the first to perform a successful coronary artery bypass, and in 1966 he was the first to insert a mechanical device into the chest to assist the heart. He edited the Yearbook of Surgery (1958 – 70) and served on many medical editorial boards. His many awards include the Medal of Freedom and membership in the Academy of Athens.

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Biography: Michael Ellis DeBakey
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The American surgeon Michael Ellis DeBakey (born 1908) devised procedures for replacing diseased portions of the aorta, and was a leader in the devel opment of the artificial heart.

Michael DeBakey was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on September 7, 1908. From early on he had a keen interest in biology, and he received his bachelor of science degree in 1930, his medical degree in 1932, and a master of science degree for research on peptic ulcers in 1935, from Tulane University. He then served as a medical resident in Europe at the universities of Strasbourg and Heidelberg. He married Diana Cooper on Oct. 15, 1936.

In 1937, DeBakey became a member of the Tulane faculty. Except for service during World War II in the Surgeon General's Office, where he rose to become chief of the surgery consultants division, he remained at Tulane until 1948. DeBakey had already become an expert in blood transfusion and had developed a roller-type pump for use in transfusions. It became an important component of the heart-lung machine.

In 1948 DeBakey was appointed professor of surgery at Baylor University College of Medicine in Houston, Tex. A year later he assumed responsibilities as surgeon in chief at Houston's Ben Taub General Hospital. In the 1950s DeBakey originated complex surgical procedures for the correction of aneurysms and blockages of the aorta involving replacing the diseased part with Dacron tubing.

The work for which DeBakey is best known involves the artificial heart. He initially concentrated on developing a left ventricular bypass (half an artificial heart) and in 1967 successfully implanted his device. He worked toward the development of a completely artificial heart and believed that such a heart was the ultimate answer to human heart replacement in spite of others' interest in heart transplantation.

In 1969 a former colleague, Dr. Denton Cooley, implanted a completely artificial heart in a human. Since Cooley had worked closely with DeBakey and because he was assisted by Dr. Domingo Liotta, who had worked with DeBakey on the artificial heart, DeBakey claimed priority of development. Cooley's artificial heart was not successful, and DeBakey held that much more work was needed to perfect the device.

DeBakey earned numerous awards and honors. In 1963, he received the prestigious Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Research. The next year, he served on the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke. This Commission recommended, among other things, the establishment of intensive-care centers for these diseases and community centers for diagnosis. He received the Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 1969, and the Presidential Medal of Science in 1987. In 1976 his students from around the world established the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society, and Baylor University founded the Michael E. Debakey Center for Biomedical Education and the DeBakey Lectureship. DeBakey has authored well over one thousand published medical-scientific articles and more extensive works. His books include Battle Casualties, Incidence, Mortality, and Logistic Considerations (1952) with G. W. Beebe and Cold Injury, Ground Type (1958) with T. F Whayne.

In addition to his other positions DeBakey was chairman of the Department of Medicine at Methodist Hospital in Houston, physician in chief at the Fondren-Brown Cardiovascular Research Center, and director of the DeBakey Heart Center of Baylor and Methodist Hospital. In 1996, DeBakey again achieved international repute serving as consultant to the surgeons who performed heart bypass surgery on Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Further Reading

The greatest compilation of DeBakey's research can be found in his own The Living Heart, as well as in its sequels, The Living Heart's Shopper's Guide and The Living Heart's Guide to Eating Out. DeBakey's work is briefly discussed in Richard Hardaway Meade, An Introduction to the History of General Surgery (1968), and Robert G. Richardson, Surgery: Old and New Frontiers (1969), which is a revised and enlarged edition of The Surgeon's Tale (1958).

Wikipedia: Michael E. DeBakey
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Michael Ellis DeBakey

Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey
Born September 7, 1908 (1908-09-07)
Lake Charles, Louisiana,
United States
Died July 12, 2008 (2008-07-13)
(aged 99)
Houston, Texas, United States
Alma mater Tulane University
Religious beliefs Maronite Catholic[1]

Michael Ellis DeBakey, M.D. (September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008) was a world-renowned American cardiac surgeon, innovator, medical educator, and international medical statesman.[2] DeBakey was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and director of The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and senior attending surgeon of The Methodist Hospital in Houston.[3][4][5]

Contents

Early life

Michael Ellis DeBakey was born as Michel Dabaghi[6] in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to Lebanese immigrants Shaker and Raheeja Dabaghi (later Anglicized to DeBakey). Michael E. DeBakey once said: "Being Compassionate, being concerned for your fellow man, doing everything you can to help people; that's the kind of religion I have."

Medical career

DeBakey received his BS degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. In 1932, he received an M.D. degree from Tulane University School of Medicine. He remained in New Orleans to complete his internship and residency in surgery at Charity Hospital. DeBakey completed his surgical fellowships at the University of Strasbourg, France, under Professor René Leriche, and at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, under Professor Martin Kirschner. Returning to Tulane Medical School, he served on the surgical faculty from 1937 to 1948. From 1942 to 1946, he was on military leave as a member of the Surgical Consultants' Division in the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army, and in 1945 he became its Director and received the Legion of Merit. DeBakey helped develop the mobile army surgical hospital (MASH) units and later helped establish the Veteran's Administration Medical Center Research System. He joined the faculty of Baylor University College of Medicine (now known as the Baylor College of Medicine) in 1948, serving as Chairman of the Department of Surgery until 1993. DeBakey was president of the college from 1969 to 1979, served as Chancellor from 1979 to January 1996, he was then named Chancellor Emeritus. He was also Olga Keith Wiess and Distinguished Service Professor in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery at Baylor College of Medicine and Director of the DeBakey Heart Center for research and public education at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital.

DeBakey's ability to bring his professional knowledge to bear on public policy earned DeBakey a reputation as a medical statesman. He was a member of the medical advisory committee of the Hoover Commission and was chairman of the President's Commission on Heart Disease, Cancer and Stroke during the Johnson Administration. He worked tirelessly in numerous capacities to improve national and international standards of health care. Among his numerous consultative appointments was a three-year membership on the National Advisory Heart and Lung Council of the National Institutes of Health.[7]

DeBakey served in the U.S. Army during World War II and helped to revolutionize wartime medicine by supporting the stationing of doctors closer to the front lines. This concept greatly improved the survival rate of wounded soldiers and resulted in the development of Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units during the Korean War.[8][9]

Medical pioneer

At age 23, while still in medical school at Tulane University, DeBakey invented the roller pump, the significance of which was not realized until 20 years later when it became an essential component of the heart-lung machine.[10] The pump provided a continuous flow of blood during operations. This, in turn, made open-heart surgery possible.

With his mentor, Alton Ochsner, he postulated in 1939 a strong link between smoking and carcinoma of the lung. DeBakey was one of the first to perform coronary artery bypass surgery, and in 1953 he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy. A pioneer in the development of an artificial heart, DeBakey was the first to use an external heart pump successfully in a patient — a left ventricular bypass pump.

DeBakey pioneered the use of Dacron grafts to replace or repair blood vessels. In 1958, to counteract narrowing of an artery caused by an endarterectomy, DeBakey performed the first successful patch-graft angioplasty. This procedure involved patching the slit in the artery from an endarterectomy with a Dacron or vein graft. The patch widened the artery so that when it closed, the channel of the artery returned to normal size. The DeBakey artificial graft is now used around the world to replace or repair blood vessels.

In the 1960s, DeBakey and his team of surgeons were among the first to record surgeries on film. A camera operator would lie prone atop a surgical film stand made to Dr. DeBakey's specifications and record a surgeon's eye view of the operating area. The camera and lights were positioned within three to four feet of the operative field, yet did not interfere with the surgical team.[10] DeBakey worked together with Dr. Denton Cooley while they both practiced at Baylor College of Medicine. According to the April 18, 1969 issue of Life magazine, they had a disagreement associated with Cooley's apparently unauthorized implantation of the first artificial heart in a human. DeBakey had set the surgery for Friday, April 4, 1969, and because of a schedule conflict relating to a speech in Corpus Christi, TX, rescheduled it for the following Monday. Cooley then rescheduled back to the original date and performed the surgery while DeBakey was out of town. The press covered the surgery and Cooley gained much publicity. Debakey was angry at Cooley for his actions. Cooley then left Methodist Hospital and signed on with St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital across the street. Their disagreement turned into a bitter feud that lasted for decades;[11] the two men reconciled only in 2007,[12] but DeBakey made it public by inviting Cooley to his Congressional Gold Medal ceremony.[13] On May 2, 2008, DeBakey inducted Cooley into the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society, presenting him with a leather-bound copy of the first medical article the two co-authored and a lifetime achievement award.[14]

To the amazement of his colleagues and patients, DeBakey continued to practice medicine into an age well after most others have retired. DeBakey practiced medicine until the day he died, and nearly reached 100 years of age in 2008. His contributions to the field of medicine spanned the better part of 75 years. DeBakey operated on more than 50,000 patients, including several heads of state.[15] Dr. DeBakey and a team of American cardiothoracic surgeons, including Dr. George Noon, supervised quintuple bypass surgery performed by Russian surgeons on Russian President Boris Yeltsin in 1996.[16]

The Congressional Gold Medal awarded to DeBakey

In 1969, the Baylor College of Medicine separated from Baylor University under his direction. The DeBakey High School for Health Professions, the Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Houston at the Texas Medical Center in Houston are named after him. He had a role in establishing the Michael E. DeBakey Heart Institute at the Hays Medical Center in Kansas. Several atraumatic vascular surgical clamps and forceps that he introduced also bear his name. DeBakey founded the Michael E. DeBakey Institute at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences as a collaboration between Texas A&M, the Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Health Science Center at Houston to further cardiovascular research.

DeBakey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969 even though his name was later found on Nixon's Enemies List. In 1987, President Ronald Reagan awarded him the National Medal of Science. He was a Health Care Hall of Famer, a Lasker Luminary, and a recipient of The United Nations Lifetime Achievement Award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, and The National Medal of Science. He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Foundation for Biomedical Research and in 2000 was cited as a "Living Legend" by the Library of Congress. On April 23, 2008, he received the Congressional Gold Medal from President George W. Bush, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.[13][17][18]

Health issues

On December 31, 2005, at age 97, DeBakey suffered an aortic dissection. Years prior, DeBakey had pioneered the surgical treatment of this condition, creating what is now known as the DeBakey Procedure.[2] He was hospitalized at The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas.

DeBakey initially resisted the surgical option, but as his health deteriorated and DeBakey became unresponsive, the surgical team opted to proceed with surgical intervention. In a controversial decision, Houston Methodist Hospital Ethics Committee approved the operation; on February 9–10, he became the oldest patient ever to undergo the surgery for which he was responsible. The operation lasted seven hours. After a complicated post-operative course that required eight months in the hospital at a cost of over one million dollars, Dr. DeBakey was released in September 2006 and returned to good health.[16] Although DeBakey had previously refused surgery, he later stated that he was grateful that his surgical team performed the operation.

He was present at Baylor College of Medicine for the groundbreaking of the new Michael E. DeBakey Library and Museum on October 18, 2006.

Death

Search Wikinews Wikinews has related news: American surgeon Michael E. DeBakey dies at age 99

On July 11, 2008, DeBakey died of natural causes at The Methodist Hospital in Houston.[2][19] DeBakey was preceded in death by his first wife, Diana Cooper DeBakey who died of a heart attack in 1972 and by his sons, Houston lawyer Ernest O. DeBakey, who died in 2004, and Barry E. DeBakey, who died in 2007. His brother Dr. Ernest G. DeBakey, a cancer specialist in Mobile, Alabama, died in 2006. In addition to his wife, Katrin, and their daughter, Olga, DeBakey was survived by sons Michael and Denis, as well as sisters Lois and Selma DeBakey, who are both medical editors and linguists at Baylor. A memorial service was held at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on July 16, 2008[20] after lying in repose in Houston's City Hall, the first ever to do so.[21] He was granted ground burial in Arlington National Cemetery by the Secretary of the Army.[22] On January 21, 2009, DeBakey became the first posthumous recipient of The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award, an award he agreed to receive before his death.[23]

Views on animal research

Debakey founded and chaired the Foundation for Biomedical Research (FBR), whose goal is to promote public understanding and support for animal research. Debakey made wide use of animals in his research.[citation needed] Debakey further antagonized animal rights and animal welfare advocates when he claimed that the “future of biomedical research; and ultimately human health” would be compromised if shelters stopped turning over surplus animals for medical research.[24] Responding to the need for animal research, DeBakey stated that "These scientists, veterinarians, physicians, surgeons and others who do research in animal labs are as much concerned about the care of the animals as anyone can be. Their respect for the dignity of life and compassion for the sick and disabled, in fact, is what motivated them to search for ways of relieving the pain and suffering caused by diseases."[25]

Honors

  • Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy of Medical Films
  • American Heart Association (AHA)
  • Children Uniting Nations
  • Encyclopaedia Britannica
  • Foundation for Biomedical Research
  • International College of Angiology
  • International Health and Medical Film Festival
  • Honorary Director of Research!America
  • Tulane Medical Alumni Association
  • U.S. Army Legion of Merit (1945)
  • American Medical Association Hektoen Gold Medal (1954 and 1970)
  • Rudolph Matas Award in Vascular Surgery (1954)
  • International Society of Surgery Distinguished Service Award (1958)
  • Leriche Award (1959)
  • American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award (1959)
  • Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research (1963)
  • American Medical Association Billings Gold Medal Exhibit Award (1967)
  • American Heart Association Gold Heart Award (1968)
  • Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973)
  • Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Foreign Member (1974)
  • Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander-in-Chief’s Medal and Citation (1980)
  • American Surgical Association Distinguished Service Award (1981)
  • Academy of Surgical Research Markowitz Award (1988)
  • Association of American Medical Colleges Special Recognition Award (1988)
  • Honorary Doctorate of Science from Universidad Francisco Marroquin [2] (1989)
  • American Legion Distinguished Service Award (1990)
  • Honorary President of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps (1992)
  • Premio Giuseppe Corradi Award for Surgery and Scientific Research (1997)
  • Russian Military Medical Academy, Boris Petrovsky International Surgeons Award and First Laureate of the Boris Petrovsky Gold Medal (1997)
  • Grau de Grande Oficial da Ordem de Santiago de Espada, Portugal, 1998
  • John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award (1999)
  • Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Member (1999)
  • Texas Senate and House of Representatives, Adoption of resolutions honoring Dr. DeBakey for 50 years of medical practice in Texas (1999)
  • American Medical Association Virtual Mentor Award (2000)
  • American Philosophical Society Jonathan Rhoads Medal (2000)
  • Library of Congress Bicentennial Living Legend Award (2000)
  • Villanova University Mendel Medal Award (2001)
  • Houston Hall of Fame (2001)
  • NASA Invention of the Year Award (2001)
  • MUSC [3] "Lindbergh-Carrel Prize" [4] (2002)
  • Congressional Gold Medal (April 23, 2008)
  • First person ever to lie in state in the Houston City Hall Rotunda
  • The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award (January 21, 2009)

Publications

Wiki letter w.svg This section requires expansion.

As a lifelong scholar, Dr. DeBakey's writings are reflected in his authorship or co-authorship in more than 1,300 published medical articles, chapters and books on various aspects of surgery, medicine, health, medical research and medical education, as well as ethical, socio-economics and philosophic discussion in these fields. Many of these are now considered classics. In addition to his scholarly writings, he is a best selling author, having co-authored such popular works as The Living Heart, The Living Heart Shopper's Guide and The Living Heart Guide to Eating Out. Some of the references:

M. E. DeBakey: The living heart. Putnam Publishing Group, 1983.

M. E. DeBakey: The Living heart diet. New York: Raven Press/Simon and Schuster, 1984.

M. E. DeBakey: New living heart. Adams, 1997.

Dr. DeBakey worked on his first book with Dr. Beebe after the Second World War:

M. E. DeBakey and G. W. Beebe: Battle Casualties Incidence, Mortality, and Logistic Considerations, 1952

See also

Houston portal

References

  1. ^ "An introduction to Lebanon's Maronite Catholics". Western Catholic Reporter. http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2003/0324/maronite032403.shtml. 
  2. ^ a b c Ackerman, Todd; Eric Berger (2008-07-12). "Dr. Michael DeBakey: 1908-2008; 'Greatest surgeon of the 20th century' dies". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5884576.html. 
  3. ^ "Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center, General facts". methodisthealth.com. http://www.methodisthealth.com/tmhs/mdhvc.do?channelId=-1073833230&contentId=1073790394&contentType=SERVICE_CONTENT_TYPE. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
  4. ^ "DeBakey Bio". Baylor College of Medicine. http://www.bcm.edu/news/mediacenter/bios.cfm#debakey. 
  5. ^ "AMNews: May 19, 2008. Heart surgeon pioneer wins highest civilian honor". AMNews, www.ama-assn.org. 2008-05-19. http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/05/19/prsa0519.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-13. 
  6. ^ According to the American Lebanese Medical Association (ALMA)
  7. ^ Michael E. DeBakey, M.D. on debakeydepartmentofsurgery.com
  8. ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (2008-07-13). "Michael DeBakey, Rebuilder of Hearts, Dies at 99". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/health/13debakey.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
  9. ^ "Dr. Michael DeBakey". They Got Their Start In Military Medicine. Department of Defense Military Health System. http://www.health.mil/InspirationRoom/MedicalPioneers.aspx?id=71. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
  10. ^ a b "DeBakey Surgical Innovations". Baylor College of Medicine. http://www.bcm.edu/news/packages/medinnovations.cfm. Retrieved 2008-07-12. 
  11. ^ "An Act of Desperation". Time. 1969-04-18. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,844760,00.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11. 
  12. ^ "The Feud". The New York Times. 2007-11-27. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27docs.html. 
  13. ^ a b "Heart surgeon DeBakey receives high honor". KTRK. 2008-04-30. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=6098224. 
  14. ^ http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=1122
  15. ^ Michael DeBakey, pioneer of heart procedures, dead at 99, http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/07/12/debakey.obit.ap/index.html, AP, July 12, 2008
  16. ^ a b Altman, Lawrence K. (2006-12-25). "The Man on the Table Was 97, but He Devised the Surgery". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/25/health/25surgeon.html?pagewanted=3&ei=5094&en=e9f039dd9b8b2d74&hp&ex=1167109200&partner=homepage. Retrieved 2006-12-25. 
  17. ^ "Houston's DeBakey gets congressional medal in D.C.". Houston Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5724100.html. 
  18. ^ Sen. Hutchison’s Bill to Award DeBakey the Congressional Gold Medal Passes Congress
  19. ^ "Baylor, Methodist mourn death of Dr. Michael E. DeBakey". Baylor College of Medicine. http://www.bcm.edu/news/item.cfm?newsID=1168. 
  20. ^ Events to remember Dr. DeBakey
  21. ^ Houstonians from all walks pay respects to DeBakey
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ http://www.texasheart.org/AboutUs/News/DACLA_2009-02.cfm
  24. ^ Pound Seizure When Will it End?
  25. ^ [http://www.mofed.org/Animal_Research.htm Animal-test research has saved many human lives]

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