Injection treatment of varicose veins was introduced by Linser.

Injection of quinine urethane for the treatment of varicose veins.

Introduction of sodium salicylate injections for the treatment of varicose veins. With J. Paraf and J. Lermoyez.

Sodium chloride first used in the injection treatment of varicose veins.

Nobl used dextrose in the injection treatment of varicose veins.

In 1924 Wilfred Trotter(1872-1939) performed the first planned operation for intracranial aneurysm diagnosed pre-operatively.

Cooper combined ligation with subsequent injection of 5 per cent sodium morrhuate in the treatment of varicose veins.

First demonstration of the value of the operating microscope in microsurgery.

Reprints of papers published between 1846 and 1853. Virchow gave the first clear description of thrombosis and embolism (see especially Beitr. exp. Path.,1846, 2,227-380). This work was translated into English by A. C. Matzdorff and W. R. Bell as Thrombosis and Emboli (1846-1856), Canton, MA, 1998.

First description of pulmonary fat embolism in man.

Experimental study of the effects of ligation of coronary vessels.

Cohnheim developed the doctrine of infarction as a result of occlusion of terminal arteries. He explained the haemorrhagic nature of certain infarcts on the basis of a reflux flow and diapedesis through the altered capillaries of the infarcted area.

Pulmonary embolectomy first attempted, “Trendelenburg’s operation” – first successfully performed by Kirschner (see No. 3016).

First successful embolectomy; operation carried out by G. Labey, November 16, 1911.

Key performed his first successful embolectomy on December 4, 1912, and reported it to a meeting of the Svenska Läkaresällskapet on January 28, 1913. See also his review in Ergebn. Chir. Orthop.,1929, 22,1-94.

First successful aortic embolectomy.

Classic clinical description of pulmonary fat embolism.

First successful surgical treatment of pulmonary embolism, a procedure suggested by Trendelenburg in 1908 (see No. 3012).

First successful embolectomy in Britain.

Order of authorship in the original publication: Murray, Jaques, Perrett, Best. Heparin was discovered by Jay McLean and William Henry Howell in 1916; however it was not tested as an anticoagulant in clinical trials until 1935.  With L.B. Jaques, T. S. Perrett.

In 1946 Santos removed a thrombus and atheroma plaque from an artery in order to unblock it, and, using the knowledge acquired from Gordon Murray, placed the patient on heparin in order to avoid re-thrombosis. Called endarteriectomy, this technique spread around the world and remains the method of choice for treating severe stenoses and segmental obstructions in the arteries.

With C. D. Marple and D. F. Beck.

Arterial homograft on aorta.

Introduction of the balloon catheter in arterial embolectomy. With J. J. Cranley, R. J. Krause, E. S. Strasser and C. D. Hafner.

First successful pericardiocentesis. The above reference is not to his first writing on the subject, which cannot be traced. See also Dict.Sci. med.,1819, 40, 370.

Account of first pericardiocentesis for suppurative pericarditis.

Experimental valvulotomy. Translation in Amer. J. Cardiol.,1973, 32,993.

“This was the first report in America and probably world-wide in which there was a successful evacuation of a traumatic hemopericardium and a suture placed in the pericardium. Dalton’s patient was operated on in September, 1891… The patient survived his ordeal and was discharged from the hospital in three and a half months” (Rutkow).

Rehn was the first successfully to suture a wound of the human heart.

Before 1896 wounds of the heart had always been regarded as fatal. Rehn’s work marks the begining of cardiac surgery. English translation in Callahan, Keys & Key, Classics of Cardiology, vol. 3, 34-44.  See

See Karel B. Absolon and Mohammad Naficy, First successful cardiac operation in a human 1896: A documentation. The life, the times and the work of Ludwig Rehn (1849-1930). Rockville, MD, 2002.

Jaboulay was the first to perform the operation of sympathectomy for the relief of vascular disease.

Brauer was first to suggest the operation of cardiolysis, a procedure carried out by Petersen.

Reports experimental heart transplantation in a dog. See also the earlier paper on pp. 284-5.

Goyanes used vein grafts to restore arterial flow.

Munro was first to suggest the feasibility of ligation of a patent ductus arteriosus.

Carrel’s remarkable technique of end-to-end anastomosis of blood vessels; see also No. 2909.

Carrel showed that arteries kept for days or weeks outside the body can be transplanted successfully.

Carrel’s experiments showed that it was possible to preserve portions of blood vessels in cold storage for long periods before using them in transplantation. For an appreciation of Carrel, see Garrison’s History, p. 733.

Carrel attempted the direct placement of a bypass vessel in a dog.

First attempt at surgical relief of valvular disease of the heart (congenital pulmonary stenosis). Experimental valvotomy.

Tuffier carried out the first successful experimental operation for the relief of chronic valvular disease. He also operated successfully in a case of aortic stenosis.

First pericardiectomy, for constrictive pericarditis.

Successful section of mitral valve for relief of mitral stenosis.

First complete pericardiectomy for constrictive pericarditis.

Mitral valvotomy; report of a successful case.

Thyroidectomy for congestive heart failure and angina pectoris. With D. D. Berlin.

By implantation of the pectoral muscle into the pericardium, Beck provided a collateral circulation to the heart for the relief of myocardial ischemia. This paper recorded the first operation on a man. It was preceded by Beck’s paper, written with V.L. Tichy an A.R. Moritz, recording operations on dogs: "Production of a collateral circulation to the heart", Proc. Soc. exp. Biol. Med.,1935, 32,759-61.

First cardio-omentopexy.

Peet operation for hypertension. Preliminary communication in Univ. Hosp. Bull. (Ann Arbor), 1935, 1,17-18.

By attaching a pedicled omental graft to the surface of the heart (cardio-omentopexy), thus providing a collateral circulation to that organ, O’Shaughnessy made an important advance in the treatment of angina and cardiac ischemia generally.

Arterectomy in arterial thrombosis. With R. Fontaine and S. M. Dupertuis.

First heart–lung machine used successfully on an animal.

One of the earliest successful surgical repairs for congenital heart disease. See also later paper in Ann. Surg.,1939, 110, 321-56.

Obliteration of the abdominal aorta.

Smithwick operation for hypertension.

Includes valuable information regarding the history of the subject.

The “Blalock-Taussig operation” for the relief of congenital defects of the pulmonary artery, Tetralogy of Fallot ("blue baby syndrome").

"The first surgical repair was carried out in 1944 at Johns Hopkins.^[70] The procedure was conducted by surgeon Alfred Blalock and cardiologist Helen B. Taussig, with Vivien Thomas also providing substantial contributions and listed as an assistant.^[3] This first surgery was depicted in the film Something the Lord Made.^[59] It was actually Helen Taussig who convinced Alfred Blalock that the shunt was going to work. 15-month-old Eileen Saxon was the first person to receive a Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt.^{[59]" (Wikipedia article on Tetralogy of Fallot).}

Crafoord and Gross (No. 3044.1) pioneered this basic operation in cardiac and pediatric surgery.

Resection of coarctation and direct anastomosis of remaining ends. See also his report of 60 cases in J. Amer.med.Assoc.,1949, 139,285-92.

With S. Smith and S. Gibson.

"Brock performed the first successful valvotomies for isolated pulmonary stenosis in 1948. He gained access to the blood-filled beating heart through a small incision in the right ventricle through which he passed a valvulotome that was used to enlarge the opening of the stenotic value" (W. Bruce Fye). See Brock's book, The anatomy of congenital pulmonary stenosis, London, 1957.

Valvuloplasty for mitral stenosis. Harken reported the first successful intracardiac operation for treatment of this lesion--a procedure was first attempted in the 1920s. Charles Bailey in Philadelphia undertook a similar approach at the same time, and according to Lawrence Cohn "These surgeons began the 'modern' era of cardiac surgery." (L. H. Cohn, "Surgical Treatment of Valvular Heart Disease," Am. J. Surg. 135, 444-451, 1978). With L. B. Ellis, P. F. Ware. 

Operation Dec. 4, 1947.

First pulmonary-azygos shunt operation for relief of mitral stenosis. Two further patients were operated upon later the same year; all three are reported in J. Amer. med. Ass.,1949, 140, 1259. A similar procedure was successfully employed independently by F. d’Allaines and his colleagues in 1949 (Mém. Acad. Chir., Paris, 1949, 75, 318-19).

Bigelow pioneered surface-induced whole body hypothermia and temporary cardiac flow occlusion. With W.F. Greenwood.

First use of pacemaker for Stokes–Adams syndrome, using dogs as subjects. External power source. See also Furman and Scawadel, John B., "An intracardiac pacemaker for Stokes–Adams seizures ," New Engl. J. Med.,1959, 261, 943-48.

The addenda to the Furman and Robinson paper reports, p. 248, the first use of a transvenous lead in two patients: " Since submission of this paper for publication 2 patients with total A-V dissociation have been maintained with the use of the intracardiac pacemaker. One during an operative procedure, the second, a patient with recurrent Stokes-Adams attacks, for the past 10 weeks with the cather remaining in the heart for this entire  period of time" (Quoted by W. Bruce Fye).

Order of authorship in the original publication: Weirich, Gott, Lillehei. Attachment of a wire to the ventricular epicardium, and bringing it out percutaneously to an external pacemaker. This was a key development leading to the pacemaker industry.

Arterial prosthesis. With L. C. France, R. F. Smith, and J. G. Whitcomb.

Cardiopulmonary bypass and open excision of the aneurysm. With W.S. Henly, K.H. Amad, & D.W. Chapman.

Important experimental technique (Shumway); reported eight heart homotransplants.

The first fully-implantable pacemaker. 

On September 21, 1960, Starr successfully inserted a “ball-in-cage” prosthetic valve (the Starr-Edwards heart valve) into a patient’s mitral valve, which was severely diseased as a result of rheumatic fever. This was the first replacement of the mitral valve in a human. See also Starr & Edwards, "Mitral replacement: Clinical experience with a ball-valve prosthesis," Annals of Surgery, 154 (1961) 726-740.

See A. N. Matthews, "The development of the Starr-Edwards heart valve," Tex .Heart Inst J. , 25 (1998) 282–293.

Homograft valve placed below coronary orifice, a single page report. The first complete report on the "Ross procedure" was "Homotransplantation of the aortic valve in the subcoronary posittion,"  J. thorac. cardiovasc. Surg. 47 (1964) 713-19.

Subcoronary homograft valve; report on 44 patients, of whom 41 survived. Barratt-Boyes was a pioneering cardiac surgeon in New Zealand.

Heart transplant from a chimpanzee into a man; unsuccessful. Hardy was expecting the donor heart to be obtained from a relatively young patient dying of brain damage, but the patient went into terminal myocardial failure before a human organ could be obtained. The recipient was a prisoner serving a life sentence for murder; he died 18 days after the operation. Westaby and Bosher, Landmarks in cardiac surgery (Oxford, 1999) 259-260.

The paper has seven co-authors.

Hufnagel designed and inserted the first workable prosthetic heart valve in man.

First human heart transplant. The operation was on Dec. 3, 1967, and the patient died on Dec. 21.

First report on bypass of a human coronary artery. See No. 3047.25. Two years later Favoloro published a monograph on the topic: Surgical treatment of coronary arteriosclerosis (Baltimore, 1970). Digital facsimile from annalsthoracicsurgery.org at this link.

The Rastelli procedure. “Intraventricular rerouting of left ventricular output through the ventricular septal defect to the aorta and establishing of a new right ventricular outflow through the ventriculotomy and an extracardiac conduit to the pulmonary artery” (Callahan, McGoon, & Key, Classics of Cardiology).

Surgical management of the tachycardia of Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome.

Fontan procedure. “Anastomosis between the divided superior vena cava and the right pulmonary artery, anastomosis of the right atrium to the pulmonary artery, and insertion of a homograft valve in the ostium of the inferior vena cava” (Callahan, McGoon & Key, Classics of Cardiology).

"Probably the first successful saphenous bypass graft was by Edward Garrett (1964), whilst he was working with DeBakey. He performed the bypass graft in order to wean a patient from cardiopulmonary bypass, and the long-term result of the procedure was not reported until 10 years later [this article]." (Westaby and Bosher, 196). See No. 3047.21

Introduction of plastic material to repair arterial defects. Voorhees later abandoned this material in favour of Dacron. With A. Jaretzki and A. W. Blakemore.

First pump oxygenator used on humans. Performed on May 6, 1953, this was the first successful intracardiac operation in a patient with the use of total heart-lung bypass.

Warden and colleagues undertook the first repair of various cardiac anomalies. With M. Cohen, and R.C. Read.

Controlled cross circulation (human heart–lung “machine”) for intracardiac surgery.

First successful aortic valve homograft. For report of six-year follow-up, see A. J. Kerwin, et al., New Engl. J. Med.,1962, 266,852.

DeWall bubble oxygenator. With six co-authors.

This is the first printing of the medical and therapeutic section of Abul Qasim’s medical encyclopedia or al-Tasrif. It contains what is probably the earliest description of hemophilia (fol. 145). Digital facsimile from Google Books at this link.

Contains (Cent. iii, curat. 70, p. 286) first recorded case of purpura as a separate entity, not associated with fever. English translation of this section in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd. ed., 1945, p. 514.

Panaroli described hemolytic jaundice of the newborn.

Behrens gave the name “morbus maculosus haemorrhagicus” to the disease purpura haemorrhagica. His paper is reprinted in Werlhof’s Opera medica, Hannover, 1775, 2,615-36.

Werlhof gave a classic description of purpura haemorrhagica (“Werlhof’s disease”).

Samuel Johnson called Heberden “the last of our learned physicians”. The above work included all his important papers, which had earned him his great reputation, and which are dealt with elsewhere in this database (see Nos. 2887, 2291, 5438, 5831). Heberden's book was published posthumously by Heberden’s son, and at once acquired a European reputation; “it had the distinction of being the last important medical treatise written in Latin” (Rolleston). An English translation also appeared in 1802. Chap. 78 reports two cases of anaphylactoid (abdominal) purpura. Henoch (No. 3065) and Schönlein (No. 3058) established this condition as a distinct entity. In his chapter De nodis digitorum Heberden described a form of rheumatic gout in which nodules (“Heberden’s nodes”) appeared at the interphalangeal joints of the fingers. Heberden's introduction to the book, written in 1767, was not published until the 4th edition (1816).

Otto recognized and adequately described hemophilia, noting that females are not affected but may transmit the disease. His paper is one of the first great contributions to medicine in North America. Reproduced in Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd ed., 1945, p. 522.

Burns was the first to suggest (p. 31) ligature of the innominate artery. His book describes “Burns’s space”, the fascial space at the suprasternal notch.

The first recorded case of chloroma (myeloid sarcoma, granulocytic sarcoma, extramedullary myeloid tumor), a manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia, is found on p. 396 of this book. This was of course, about 30 years before leukemia was understood as a disease.

In his description of hemophilia Nasse stressed the immunity of females, despite their ability to transmit the disease. This fact has become known as “Nasse’s law”.

Description of venous obstruction and edema.

“Schönlein’s disease” (purpura) first described. English translation in No. 2241.

Blood transfusion used in treatment of hemophilia.

Addison made important observations on the blood corpuscles. He is by some considered “the world’s first hematologist”. He gave the first description of leucocytosis, so named by Virchow in 1858, and he anticipated Cohnheim’s conception of inflammation. He was first to observe diapedesis. See Lancet, 1907, 1,182-83. See also No. 2294.

The first monograph on hematology in its "modern" sense. Andral established analysis of the blood on the basis of exact knowledge of the blood components. He analysed the blood fibrin and albumin. He recognized several forms of anemia, including that due to lead poisoning. English translation, 1844.

Donne's and Foucault's work was the first biomedical textbook to be illustrated with images made from photomicrographs, in this case daguerreotypes of blood cells. Among its noteworthy images are the first microphotographs of human blood cells and platelets, and the first photographic illustration of Trichomonas vaginalis, the protozoon responsible for vaginal infections, which Donné had discovered in 1836. The text volume of the Cours contains the first description of the microscopic appearance of leukemia, which Donné had observed in blood taken from both an autopsy and a living patient. His observations mark the first time that leukemia was linked with abnormal blood pathology. Foucault, who later achieved fame as a physicist, initally studied medicine, which he abandoned for physics due to an extreme fear of blood. Foucault initially directed his attention to the improvement of Louis Daguerre's photographic processes. For three years he was experimental assistant to Donné in his course of lectures on microscopy.

First definite description of leukemia as a blood disorder; a case under the care of Sir R. Christison but reported by Bennett. On p. 400 of the same journal is a report of a case by D. Craigie, referring to a patient seen in 1841 but not recognized as leukemia until Craigie heard of Bennett’s case in the same hospital. Bennett published a monograph on leucocythemia in 1852, in which he included the first illustrations of the microscopic appearance of the blood in leukemia.

Only six weeks after Bennett, Virchow independently published a report on the necropsy of a case of leukemia. He gave the condition its present name. For translation, see Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd. ed., 1945, p. 510.

Leukemia diagnosed during life as the result of a blood examination.

First full clinical description of hemophilia.

Includes his paper on “weisses Blut” (see No. 3062) and three later papers on leukemia. See No. 3006.

Acute leukemia first described.

“Henoch’s purpura”. Henoch described a form of purpura with abdominal symptoms first mentioned by Heberden (No. 3053). See also the same journal, 1874, 11,622, 641-43. This paper is translated into English in No. 2241.

Neumann was the first to note changes in the bone marrow in leukemia, and he proposed the term “myelogenous leukemia”.

Kernicterus first described.

True hemophilia in a female. The family was the subject of several later investigations, the last being reported in Lancet, 1973, 2,734.

First description.

König gave a detailed description of joint involvement in hemophilia.

Extension of Ehrlich’s work on the differential blood count. By means of his methods of staining blood cells Ehrlich differentiated two types of leukemia, lymphatic and myelogenous.

Vaquez first described polycythemia vera (erythremia). Osler’s paper on the subject (No. 3073) made it generally known in the English-speaking world, and the condition has since been named “Vaquez–Osler disease”. For translation, see Major, Classic descriptions of disease, 3rd ed., 1945, p. 497.

Jenner’s methylene blue-eosin stain for blood.

First recorded case of extreme leucopenia.

When describing polycythemia with cyanosis, Osler thought it a new entity, but later acknowledged the priority of Vaquez’s description (No. 3070). Reprinted in Med. Classics, 1939, 4,254-75.

Wolff-Eisner trephined the tibia and femur of experimental animals and suggested biopsy of bone marrow as a clinical procedure.

“Arneth count”. Arneth distinguished five groups of polymorphonuclear leucocytes and advocated the estimation of these groups as a valuable aid in the determination of bone-marrow reaction to infective and other agents (plate 8, p. 37).

Includes (p. 396) description of “Geisböck’s disease” – polycythemia hypertonica.

Includes (p. 151) Sternberg’s description of lymphogranulomatosis, which was given the eponym “Sternberg’s disease”.

First reported case of complete agranulocytosis.

Cell-free transmission of fowl leukemia. Ellermann and Bang produced leukemia by means of a filterable agent.

Introduction of bone marrow biopsy by puncturing the shaft of the tibia.

First detailed description of familial icterus gravis neonatorum.

Bulloch and Fildes, in their detailed account of hemophilia, claimed to have established immunity to the disease in females, and denied the authenticity of published cases of female hemophilia. They confirmed the law of Nasse. This work was issued as Memoir XII of the Eugenics Laboratory, University of London, and forms parts V-VI of the Treasury of Human Inheritance series.

One of the leaders in modern hematology, Pappenheim improved the methods of staining blood cells.

Monocytic leukemia reported.

Frank’s essential thrombopenia.

Phenylhydrazine hydrochloride first used in the treatment of polycythemia.

Westergren’s method of measuring the erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

“Schultz’s syndrome” – first description of agranulocytic angina. Schultz reported four cases of necrotic ulcerative infection of the throat with complete or almost complete disappearance of polymorphonuclears. To describe the blood change he introduced the term “agranulocytosis”.

Bone marrow biopsy by sternal puncture.

Successful exchange transfusion.

Von Willebrand’s disease, pseudo-hemophilia type B, an hereditary bleeding disorder affecting both sexes.

Needle puncture of bone marrow biopsy. (In Russian.) German account in Folia haemat. (Lpz.), 1929, 38, 233-40. English translation from the German in Bick, Classics of orthopaedics, 339-44.

See No. 3092.

Measurement of circulation time.

The decholin method for estimation of circulation time. With J. Deutsch and Z. Brull.

Pelger–Huët anomaly of the nuclei of the leucocytes; see also No. 3089. German translation in Klin. Wschr., 1932, 11,1264-66.

Snake venom used in the treatment of hemophilia.

Needle for sternal puncture.

Quick’s method for determination of prothrombin clotting time. See also Amer. J. med. Sci.,1935, 190,501-11.

Wintrobe’s method for the determination of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate.

Antihemophilic globulin (factor VIII).

Vitamin K used in the treatment of hemorrhagic disease.

Therapeutic use of radioactive isotopes for the treatment of leukemia. John H. Lawrence was the brother of Ernest Orlando Lawrence, inventor of the cyclotron; John Lawrence also worked at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.  With K. G. Scott and L. W. Tuttle.

Radio-phosphorus in treatment of leukemia.