Bernard, Christiaan
Bernard, Christiaan: South African surgeon (1922-2001) who pioneered cardiac transplantation.
Dr. Bernard did the world’s first heart transplant on December 3, 1967. The heart donor was Denise Darvall, a 25-year old woman, struck by an automobile while crossing a street in Cape Town. She was rushed to Groote Schuur Hospital, where her brain was found to be clinically dead. Her heart was found to be in good condition and she had the same blood type as the recipient, Louis Washkansky, a grocer. The surgery went well.
However, Mr. Washkansky was left very vulnerable to infection by the radiation and large doses of immune-suppressing drugs (azathioprine and hydrocortisone) then believed necessary to overcome rejection of the transplant. Mr. Washkansky developed pneumonia and died 18 days after surgery.
Dr. Bernard also performed the second human heart transplant. On Jan. 2, 1968, he transplanted the heart of a young man into a retired dentist, Philip Blaiberg.
The young man from whom the heart came was of “mixed race” while Dr. Blaiberg was white. That Dr. Bernard had ignored racial barriers caused a sensation in apartheid South Africa.
The amount of antirejection drugs was reduced and Dr. Blaiberg survived for 19 months and 15 days. He died of chronic organ rejection.
Heart transplant surgery has now become a standard procedure. It had been done about 100,000 times as of 2001 and was carried out on about 2,100 patients in 160 hospitals in the U.S. in 2001, with a one-year success rate of 85-90% and a five-year success rate of 75%.
Read Also:
- Bernard-Soulier syndrome
A disorder in which the platelets crucial to normal blood clotting lack the ability to adequately stick to injured blood vessel walls, leading to abnormal bleeding. Bernard-Soulier syndrome usually appears in the newborn period, infancy, or early childhood, with bruises, nosebleeds, and gum bleeding. Bernard-Soulier syndrome is an inherited disease, transmitted as an autosomal recessive […]
- Bernstein test
Bernstein test: A test to find out if heartburn is caused by acid in the esophagus, and so to diagnose GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). The test involves dripping a mild acid, similar to stomach acid, through a tube placed in the esophagus. Also known as esophageal acid infusion test.
- Berry aneurysm
Berry aneurysm: A small aneurysm that looks like a berry and classically occurs at the point at which a cerebral artery departs from the circular artery (the circle of Willis) at the base of the brain. Berry aneurysms frequently rupture and bleed.
- Berserk
Berserk: Frenzied, enraged. From the Norse berserkr, one of the old Norse warriors who worked themselves into a frenzy.
- Beryllium
Beryllium: A toxic metal found in ores containing other elements that is used in making metal alloys for nuclear reactors and the aerospace industry. Acute exposure to beryllium fumes can cause a severe, sometimes fatal pneumonitis (inflammation of the lungs). Chronic overexposure to beryllium is more common and causes a diffuse inflammatory reaction in the […]