The heart-lung machine is an essential component in open-heart surgery. Blood from the veins is shunted via catheter to the machine, which introduces oxygen into the blood and then pumps the blood back into the patient's arteries. With the machine thus...

One of the most important advances in cardiac medicine in the twentieth century was the invention of the heart-lung machine. Scientists knew that delicate heart surgery was impossible without a console to take over the function of the human heart and...

Clarence Dennis, 96, who performed the first open-heart surgery that included the use of a heart-lung machine, died July 11 at a hospice in St. Paul, Minn. He had congestive heart failure. Dr. Dennis's research into the heart-lung machine began in the late...

Byline: Anita Weier The Capital Times The operating room stillness at St. Marys Hospital is broken by the voice of surgeon Dr. L. Douglas Cowgill. "Julie, are you ready?" he asks. Perfusionist Julie Nottestad immediately replies "yes," she is ready to...

Congress voted Tuesday to award its highest civilian honor to Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the heart surgeon who pioneered coronary bypass surgery and other innovations that have changed modern medicine.DeBakey, known as the father of cardiovascular surgery in the United States, performed his first successful...

Congress voted Tuesday to award its highest civilian honor to Dr. Michael E. DeBakey, the heart surgeon who pioneered coronary bypass surgery and other innovations that have changed modern medicine.DeBakey, known as the father of cardiovascular surgery in the United States, performed his first successful...