Blue baby operationIn 1944, the first “blue baby”operation was performed successfully at Johns Hopkins University by Dr. Alfred Blalock and pediatric cardiologist Helen B. Taussig. He devised the first subclavian-pulmonary artery anastomosis operation on the cyanotic (“blue-baby”) infant which had a hole in the wall between the heart's two major chambers (ventricles). The Blalock-Taussig shunt procedure joined an artery leaving the heart to an artery leading to the lungs, in an attempt to give the blood a second chance at oxygenation. Thousands of cyanotic children have been helped by the same operation until later surgeries repair the defect itself.«[Image: the Blalock-Taussig shunt shown after surgery on the heart.] |
