1958 – Dr. Norman E. Shumway began studying cardiac
transplantation, building on his research in total body hypothermia.
In 1949, as a resident at University of Minnesota, Shumway’s
doctoral research was on the effects of hypothermia on the heart.
Specifically, Shumway studied the ventricular fibrillation threshold
showing that as the temperature fell, less current was needed to
cause the heart to fibrillate. In 1957, Shumway spent most of his
time shuttling between his research at Stanford-Lane laboratories
and his clinical cases at the Children’s Hospital, both in
San Francisco. Stanford-Lane eventually moved to Palo Alto.
At this time, the key cardiac surgical question of the day was how
to protect the heart during heart surgery. Shumway and Richard R.
Lower, MD, Shumway’s first resident, tackled this problem in
the laboratory, exploring an idea Shumway derived from his hypothermia
experience. It was called “topical hypothermia”—a
technique that builds on total body hypothermia by further reducing
the temperature of only the heart via precisely routed ice-cold saline.
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1960 Shumway performed the first human open-heart surgery at the
Palo Alto-Stanford Hospital to correct atrial septal defect
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1960
Richard Lower and Norman Shumway reported the first successful orthotropic
cardiac transplantation in a canine.
The use of moderate hypothermia, cardiopulmonary bypass, and an
atrial “cuff” anastomotic technique permitted Norman
Shumway and Richard Lower at Stanford University to surmount the
formidable barriers of orthotopic heart transplantation using the
canine model in 1960
(Source: http://www.ctsnet.org/edmunds/Chapter49section1.html)
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1961
Shumway designed and executed the operation to replace the aortic
valve with the patient’s own pulmonary valve in animals (known
today as the Ross procedure)
In the early 1960s, the search continued for the ideal aortic valve
replacement. Based on earlier experimental work of Ellison in 1955
and Fisher in 1959, pulmonic regurgitation was shown to be well tolerated
by the human and canine heart. This finding led Lower, Stofer, and
Shumway to challenge the notion whether an autologous pulmonary valve
could survive as a graft within the aorta.3,4 These researchers carried
out the first pulmonary valve autotransplantation in canine models
in 1960 as seen in figure 1. The canines were divided into three
groups; Group 1, the pulmonary valve was removed and transplanted
into the descending aorta and a homologous aorta was used in place
of the excised native pulmonic valve. Group 2, the pulmonary valve
was resected and replaced by a fresh homologous valve. Group 3, the
native pulmonic valve was resected and returned to its normal position
as an autologous graft.
There were high operative mortality rates as the techniques were
being developed, but 12 dogs from Group 1 survived the operative
procedures and five long-term survivors were studied for up to one
year.3 This study demonstrated a free autologous pulmonic valve graft
would survive in the aortic position. Shumway continued this research
and in 1966 along with Pillsbury, performed the first excision of
aortic valve leaflets and the suturing of the native pulmonic valve
into the aortic annulus in eight dogs.7 Once the pulmonic valve was
excised, the right ventricle was anastamosed directly with the pulmonary
artery. Two of the dogs survived for 12 and 14 months and Pillsbury
and Shumway noted, although the dogs tolerated free pulmonic insufficiency
well, replacement of the pulmonic valve in the human being with a
homograft would protect right ventricular function long-term.
(Source: http://members.aol.com/amaccvpe/history/ross.htm)
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1968
Shumway and his surgical team performed the first successful adult
human heart transplant in the United States
In early 1968 newspaper headlines around the world reported the
news of a surgical team at Stanford that had successfully transplanted
an adult human heart into another human. Norman Shumway, MD, PhD,
led the team.
Dr. Shumway, the Frances and Charles Field Professor of Cardiovascular
Surgery, emeritus, is often regarded as the father of heart transplantation.
The surgery that made the headlines on Jan. 6, 1968, was the first
successful procedure of its kind in the United States and only the
fourth such attempt in the world. In the 1970s many medical centers
abandoned transplantation because of high mortality and morbidity,
but Dr. Shumway and his team persevered. Today more than 50,000 heart
transplants have taken place at medical centers internationally.
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The first coronary artery bypass surgery was performed at Stanford.
1981
Dr. Bruce Reitz and his surgical team performed the world’s
first successful combined adult human heart-lung transplant.
In 1981, the first successful transplantation of the lung was performed
at Stanford by Dr. Bruce Reitz and his colleagues as a heart-lung
transplant. This was made possible by the use of the immunosuppressive
drug, cyclosporine, and previous laboratory research performed at
Stanford. Very often when people have heart problems the lungs are
affected as well - transplanting the heart and lungs together has
become a very successful form of surgery for those patients who require it.
The Stanford team is the longest continually active team performing
lung transplantation, and new advances continue to be made in our
research laboratories. At Stanford, more than 200 patients have received
a heart-lung transplant, and recently, more than 210 patients have
received either a single lung or double lung transplant.
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1984
Falk Center dedication
The Falk Center dedicated its new headquarters in March, 1984, with
a ceremony led by Dr. Norman Shumway, who performed the first heart
transplant in the United States in 1968. Named after Dr. Ralph Falk,
a physician who practiced in Boise, Idaho, for most of his career,
and founded Baxter Laboratories, and his widow, Marian C. Falk, the
center comprises 52,000 square feet, and is located just off Quarry
Road on the Stanford campus, adjacent to Stanford University Hospital
and Lucille Salter Packard Children’s Hospital. A large central
atrium, with abundant ferns cascading down its walls and skylights
overhead, makes the building bright, welcoming and airy. Staff and
physicians occupy a mezzanine-style second floor around the atrium,
with research laboratories and other rooms occupying the lower floors.
The Falk Center is one of the pre-eminent facilities in the world
for cardiothoracic surgery and cardiovascular medicine. We invite
you to read this web site, where you will find more details about
our history, current projects, staff, and application process, and
we would welcome you to visit the Falk Center at Stanford University.
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1984
Dr. Philip Oyer performed implantation of the world’s first
successful use of a ventricular assist device as a bridge to transplantation.
The Novacor, a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), was ready for
patients in 1984. In August of that year Philip Oyer implanted the
device in a patient as part of the first success at using a mechanical
device as a “bridge” to support a human in end-stage
heart failure until a heart transplant was possible. The patient
depended on the implanted pump for two weeks before transplant. He then survived in good health for more than 20 years, just passing away in late 2004. Since
that first surgery, more than 4,000 end-stage heart failure patients
worldwide have received LVADs.
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1989
Stanford clinicians were first to use the “domino” heart
transplant procedure.
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1990
The first living lobar lung transplant was formed in the United States
at Stanford.
In 1990, Vaughn Starnes, M.D. performed the world’s first
lobar transplant using a lung segment from a living, related donor
(the girl’s mother). The next year, heart and lung transplant
was performed on a one-month-old baby, the youngest heart-lung transplant
patient ever.
(Source: http://www.usc.edu/schools/medicine/util/directories/faculty/profile.php?PersonIs_ID=1121)
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2002
Stanford’s heart-lung transplantation team became the longest
continually-active team performing heart-lung transplantation in
the world.
The Stanford team is the longest continually active team performing
lung transplantation, and new advances continue to be made in our
research laboratories. At Stanford, more than 210 patients have received
a heart-lung transplant, and recently, more than 200 patients have
received either a single lung or double lung transplant.
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