Word: septum
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...child's heart or great vessels at birth (estimated annual U.S. incidence: 30,000 to 80,000 births). The great vessels (pulmonary artery and aorta) may be transposed, not harmful during fetal life but usually fatal soon after birth. Often there is a hole in the wall (septum) between the auricles or between the ventricles; there may be a hole permitting all four heart chambers to communicate. The aorta may override (straddle) both right and left ventricles. The neck (infundibulum) of the right ventricle may be narrowed, retarding movement of blood to the lungs. In the most famed...
Bailey made another contribution (January 1952) with an operation to close a hole in the wall between the auricles. The right auricle is bigger than it needs to be and is soft and pliable. So Bailey pressed the outer wall down over the septum, covering the hole in it, and joined the two together with a circular line of stitches. This made the right auricle into a doughnut-shaped chamber, with excellent results for the patient. Says Bailey with professional pride: "Technically, this is the best accomplishment I have to my credit, because it's so nearly perfect...
Bypassing the Heart. A 17-month-old boy at the Cleveland Clinic was the first human subject of the heart-stopping technique. Born with an opening in the septum (wall) between the right and left ventricles, his heart was unable to pump blood efficiently through his body because much of the blood pumped by the left ventricle leaked back through the hole into the right ventricle. The condition was getting worse...
This gave the surgeons a "dry field" and a heart at rest. With deft scalpel, Surgeon Effler slit open the flaccid right ventricle, drew the remaining blood from it, and located the opening in the septum. He sutured the sides of the hole together. Then he took the clamp off the aorta and let blood from the artificial heart flow back into nature's heart. The potassium citrate soon washed out and-with no artificial prodding-the heart resumed its normal rhythm even before Effler could finish closing the ventricle wall. Last week, nine weeks after the operation...
...beat of an adult's heart already damaged by a blockage in the arteries feeding its muscle (coronary thrombosis or myocardial infarction). Bertram Sommerfield, 49, a Houston businessman, had a heart attack three months ago. One of its incidental effects was to tear a gaping hole in the septum between the ventricles. In adults, this usually is quickly fatal...