Plastic Mitral Heart Valve Means tiff for Iheumatic Fever Uiotins
Precision Device
Developed at Lab
At Medical School
(Editor's note: This is
another in series of ar
ticles by Mrs. Wilma Mor
rison, well-known reporter
of Oregon education, on the
research and public service
projects being carried on by
the state's colleges and uni
versity. They hare been
written for the state system
- of higher education.)
By MRS. WILMA
MORRISON
The congenital heart chil
dren who are living normal
or relatively normal lives as
a result of the heart-lung ma
chine and open heart surgery
techniques developed at the
medical school's heart labora
tory, are evident to any lay
man's naked eye: their sur
gery has been dramatically
publicized.
The continuing life-saving
research output of the lab and
the machine shows up less
spectacularly in medical
literature and in doctors' and
hospitals' reports.
Most recent development of
the lab is a precision device
a plastic mitral heart valve
that can mean a reprieve
from death sentence for some
of the severely heart-damaged
victims of the historic killer,
rheumatic fever.
Machine Developed
Showing the valve along
with several others which
have been tried and found
wanting in some way, Dr. Al
bert Starr, the cardiac sur
geon who heads . the labora
tory t said this perfected valve
has now been tried on enough
dogs that he is ready to place
TINY PATIENT - Tiniest patient on a recent heart clinic
day at the crippled children's division at the medical school
was this seven-weeks girls getting flouroscopic examination
by radiologist. Her bluish-red color contrasted ominously
with healthy appearance of her twin.
Couple Closes Eyes;
Tombstone Disappears
Billings, Mont. - Someone
put a tombstone in the yard
behind the house of Mr. and
Mrs. Nicholas Sofiero.
They decided to ignore It.
acting on the theory that if
you close your eyes to some
thing long enough it will go
away.
A few days later the tomb
stone did just that, vanishing
as mysteriously as it had ap
peared. Queen Elizabeth's 9-year-old
daughter drew in a royal
breath and told fellow Brown
ies: MARSHALL'S
Carpet
Cleaning
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A clean carpet is a hand
some carpet when cleaned
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soiling and . brighten the
original colors. THERE IS
A DIFFERENCE.
Carpet Cleaning
Furniture Cleaning
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Service
127 N. RWertide St 3-6587
EXPLAINS VALVE - As dramatic as the
open heart operation itself are the surgery
techniques and devices that the heart-lung
machine has made possible. Dr. : Albert
Starr, thoracic surgeon, right, explains the
plastic mitral heart valve (inset) that is
it with confidence in a hu
man heart.
The heart - lung machine
which Dr. Starr and his labo
ratory staff developed and
which has made possible 102
open heart operations in the
past year is an intricate pump
that keeps the blood circula
ting while surgeons make re
pairs on the human heart. It
is an engineering masterpiece
but all it ' does is make the
repair job possible; the labora
tory research and experimen
tation necessary before sur
geons can work with safety
to the patient, is endless.
The American 'Stork'
Is a Strange Bird
Nursery stories picture the
stork perched atop a chimney
pot, apparently awaiting or
ders, and always ready to car
ry a "precious bundle" any
where in the world at any
time. Of course, in these
United States we are terribly
short of chimney-pots: but
we do have storks scattered
throughout the southern and
eastern parts of our country.
At least they are reasonable
facsimiles of storks, for the
large wading bird called the
ibis belongs to the stork fam
ily and is the only representa
tive of the family in the new
world.
The wood ibis is a strange
bird, inhabiting low coastal
areas of the southeastern
United States. They are large
birds, often with a wing
spread of six feet and have
long legs and a short and a
comical tail. The head and
neck are bare of feathers,
which gives the bird a pecul
iar appearance, and prompted
someone to name them "flint
heads" or "ironheads."
Soar Skyward
In the late afternoon or
early evening great flocks of
these birds take to the air and
soar skyward on currents of
ascending air that rise from
the hot earth. Upon reaching
Before the development of
the machine surgical methods
of correcting cardiac defects
were all theoretical. Now
doctors must know how to
make the repairs, and every
procedure has to be proven
on dogs in the laboratory be
fore it is used on a human.
'"In cardiac surgery with its
rapid advances the only way
to have proper patient care
is to have one foot in the lab
and one in the operating
room," Dr. Starr said. "You
can't have a top-notch clinical
team without this research
laboratory experience. The
TRACINGS TAKEN - Three-year-old Christopher Ward has
been under the watchful eyes of the Crippled Children's
division since his defective heart was discovered at birth.
Here he has EKG (heart tracings) taken during regular visit
to Children's center at the medical school. Chris whose
activity has to be strictly limited, will have open heart sur
gery before too long.
Small Worlds
Around Us
By Lynn M. Watkins
the clouds high in the sky,
they fold their wings and
plummet earthward, only to
arrest their descent at the
last moment before plunging
into the tree tops and taking
advantage of another ascend
ing air current, rise high into
the air again.
This game often lasts for
hours, the birds apparently
getting a tremendous thrill
from the performance. The
entire ibis colony may take
part in the sport. Sometimes
the flying or soaring bird will
turn over in the air and fly
a considerable distance while
in an upside down position.
The wood ibis seems reluct
ant to rest for any length of
time. When nothing else ap
peals to their desire for ac
tion they will select a small
limb of a bush or tree much
too weak to support their
weight, and attempt to bal
ance themselves on it. After
the futile performance ends,
the ibis will solemnly stand
again on solid ground, but an
other bird will promptly fly
up on the branch and start the
hopeless "body-juggling" act.
Unique Feeding Routine
The feeding routine of. the
wood ibis is unique among
birds. They have adopted a pe
culiar technique of securing
small fish on which they usu
ally feed. The entire ibis col
latest product of his heart laboratory at
the medical school. The ball valve opens
and closes with the surge of blood. It has
been proven on dogs and holds a life-promise
for heart-damaged victims of rheumatic
fever.
lab is a training ground for
surgery as well as a place of
discovery. It is just fantastic
how soon we will do an oper
ation after the technique is
discovered in the lab.
No End to Research
"There is no end to re
search. You solve today's
problem and out. of the. solu
tion, you have ever-expanding
problems 1 that demand
solving. Five years ago the
problem was a safer heart
lung machine: now we have
it and it has allowed us to
ony will take up positions in
a shallow pool and all go into
a trampling dance that churns
the water into a muddy swirl.
The bewildered fish come to
the water's surface and fall
easy prey to me long, stout
bills of the homely storks.
There are many phases of
the life history ot the wood
ibis that are not well known.
The birds do some things that
are not easily explainable.
They have actions that bewil
der the observer. Perhaps
there is more to this "stork
story" than has ever been
told.
A group of wood ibis stand
ing in the mud is a ludicrous
sight. They look very much
like a group of hump-backed
dignitaries debating matters
of serious importance to a
world which will probably
fail to listen. Perhaps the
"storks" also have supersti
tions centered around us.
Maybe that's why they always
look -so tired; maybe the last
precious bundle they deliv
ered was heavy.
(Released by The Register
and Tribune Syndicate, 1960)
Hungry Young Actor
Takes Cast's Apple
Clinton. Tenn. - A young
ster scheduled to have an ap
ple shot from his head in a
perform ance of "William
Tell" noticed somethhg im
portant was missing - the ap
ple. .
Nine-year-old Howard Ken
na had to depend on the
audience using its imagination
after it was discovered anoth
er member of the cast had
become hungry and eaten the
apple.
enter into problems we never
could touch before."
Dr. Starr illustrated with
the new mitral heart valve
soon to be placed in a human
heart. Another- recent lab
achievement was the success
ful search for a synthetic ma
terial to widen the area of
the lung artery. .Narrowing
of this artery is cause of "blue
babies." The lab experimented
with all kinds of materials
including the fibrous tissue
that covers the brain. Finally
it was demonstrated that tef
lon is ideal, and this material
now has been placed in 20
patients with apparent suc
cess. "Here, right out of the lab,
boom! we had something of
urgent clinical value," Dr.
Starr said.
Anti-Blood-Coagulant
The lab also makes possible
the testing of discoveries made
elsewhere in heart surgery,
Currently the staff is testing
a newly-marketed anti-blood-
coagulant for the Red Cross
to see if that organization's
whole procurement program
for heart surgery should be
changed. If the new anti
coagulant works it will mean
blood storage of 4 to 5 days
is feasible instead of the pres
ent 24 hours. There would be
no more rushing of blood by
plane, followed by all-night
testing before an operation.
There is a time drama in
background of the kinds of
close laboratory - operating
room research that goes on in
heart surgery. The heart-lung
machine itself must be im
proved constantly as surgeons
are led to attempt heart re
pairs never possible before.
Right now, in Boston, a
whole new cabinet is being
made to the staff's order. It
Thornton Sees
Outgrowth of
Crime Conference
Salem - (UPD - Attorney Gen
eral Robert Y. Thornton said
Wednesday that one out
growth of the state crime pre
vention conference here last
week may be a new provis
ional crime prevention divis
ion in the Oregon Department
of Justice.
He said he is considering
establishment of such a divis
ion.
The division would work
with a new attorney general's
advisory committee on crime
prevention, to be appointed.
Main aim would be to pro
duce and carry out "concrete
recommendations for crime
prevention on city, county
and state levels."
Urgent Need Seen
"I am convinced," Thorn
ton said, "that there is a ur
gent need for an effort at the
state level to provide some
leadership and action to head
off at least some of these po
tential offenders before they
start treadmilling endlessly in
and out of our courts, jails
and prisons."
Thornton said there would
be no additional cost to the
taxpayers because he would
take personal charge of the
new division and it would be
added to the Justice Depart
ment's regular work load.
Decision Makers
Slated for Study
Medford, Mass.-(UP-An un
usual study of the factors that
influence the making of de
cisions will be undertaken
soon at Tufts University.
The psychological project
, was made possible by a $16,-
000 National bcience r oun-
dation grant.
"Little is known about the
individuals involved in the
making of decisions and
whether the person assigned
to make a decision really is
the right person," says Dr.
Ezra Saul, one of the psy
chologists. "We hope to find some new
knowledge which will insure
the selection of the best pos
sible person for the making
of decisions in all spheres of
activity, especially in this new
space and atomic era."
Boy Believed
Youngest Eagle
Kent, Ohio-CPD-Bill Con
way is a serious young man
with a serious question. Is he
the youngest Eagle Scout in
the country?
Bill will be 13 on Feb. 25.
Local scout officials believe
he replaces Francis Barnes of
Montoursville, Pa., as . the
youngest Eagle Scout.
Bill was motivated to win
the 21 merit badges required
for the Eagle insignia by the
record of his father, now a
professor of Kent State uni
versity. His father was once the
youngest boy in the Sasinaw,
Mich., area ever to win the
rank of Eagle.
will give the machine a new
function and there are several
critical heart operations wait
ing its completion. The me
chanical addition will allow a
flow of oxygenated blood
separately into the aortic ar
teries and will mean that sur
geons can work on the aortic
valve an indefinite time in
stead of the present i5-minute
limit.
Sense of 'Urgency '
"There are men scheduled
for surgery in March who
cannot be operated on with
out this addition to the ma
chine," Dr. Starr said. "We
have a terrible sense - of ur
gency." Of the 102 open heart oper
ations that have been done at
the medical school hospital,
an average of two a week, 97
were on children whose cases
were worked up by the staff
of the Oregon crippled - chil
dren's division and consultant
heart specialists. These chil
dren come from all counties.
An open heart operation
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has to be expensive. It calls
for four surgeons, an anes
thesiologist, cardiologist, sev
eral surgical nurses and other
technicians besides the pre
liminary team work-up of the
case.
The presence of the heart
lab and a center of cardiac
surgery . at Oregon's medical
school is an illustration of the
combined teaching - research -public
benefits that are pos
sible now through federal and
foundation investment in col
leges and universities. In this
case, the extensive work of
the crippled children's divis
ion with congenital heart vic
tims, and the division's un
usual organization as virtual
ly a department of the medi
cal school were prime reasons
for the thousands of dollars
of gift funds involved.
Figure Moving
"Records show that one in
every 200 births has a con
genital heart d e f e c t," Dr.
Richard Sleeter, director of
the division, said. He believes
SEARS
the figure "is moving closer
to one in 150 births."
With the evidence of the
numbers of children needing
help - numbers which could
not possibly be taken care of
by sending them to the few
medical centers in the coun
try doing open heart surgery,
Dr. Sleeter took his case to
the children's bureau.
The fact that the number
of patients necessary for a
productive heart research pro
gram were available through
the crippled children's divis
ion, and that the medical
school offered facilities and
use of the heart lab in teach
ing, brought a five-year grant
of 5130,000 from .the chil
dren's bureau. Later grants
from the U.S. public health
service and medical research
foundation of the medical
school have been added.
Open heart surgery has
made cure of the heart-damaged
child possible. But for
the increasing number of chil
dren who live with the mul-
r r o
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MAIL TRIBUNE, Medford, Or.
Thurediy, Feb. 25, 1960 C
tiple damage of cerebro palsy
and other neurological and
sensory disorders there can be
few "cures" - only ameliora
tion of their handicaps.
(Third, and last article on
the crippled children's di
vision: The long-time treat
ment of the multihandicap
ped.) HELP
We need clothing, shoes, dishes,
furniture, and bedding.
We Pick Up.
HELP OTHERS!
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