HLTH 385W Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Ductus Arteriosus, Aorta, Congenital Heart Defect
26 Jul 2018
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Document Summary
Helen taussig and the development of cardiac surgery. Graduated from johns hopkins medical school in 1923 with nine other women. After internship and a fellowship in cardiology, she was put in charge of the pediatric cardiology clinic at jhh. Blue babies were described for centuries and were infants/children who with minimal exertion became cyanotic. These children rarely survived to adults and often died as infants with little that could be done. There was a taboo with touching the heart because it messes up the electrical system and causes ventricular fibrillation. One large category of blue babies was the babies with tetrology of fallot. Taussig who was slightly deaf, refined the stethoscope, palpation, and use of fluoroscopy to become an expert at diagnosing congenital heart disease. Taussig noticed that some children with tetrology of fallot did not become cyanotic because they had a patent ductus arteriosus. Bc of the pda, blood flowed from the aorta to the lungs.
