Word: aortic
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...student nurse was still in her teens when rheumatic fever struck. She made an average recovery, but the infection had raged around the aortic valve, through which the heart's blood passes to the great artery for distribution to the rest of the body. As the inflammation died down, the healing valve tissues became scarred and failed to close. Instead of a one-way pulsing flow of blood, there was an unsteady flow with a backwash. For a dozen years the patient got along with rest and digitalis, but six months ago she became much worse. Anginal pain...
...finger. But this daring operation will do little good if the valve to the aorta (main artery) is also narrowed, and there has been no way to repair this second defect. Dr. Charles P. Bailey of Philadelphia, who developed the first operation, now has another for opening the aortic valve: he pushes piano wire into the valve through the heart, and uses it as a guide for a spreader which opens the valve...