Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Blalock-Taussig shunt

  • Helen Taussig

    Matthew HillAbdullah MubarikJulius BonelloPeoria, Illinois, United States Standing outside of the operating room, Helen Taussig was beside herself. Fifteen-month-old Eileen Saxon, a “blue baby” born with a congenital heart malformation that deprived the body of oxygenated blood, was undergoing a procedure that Taussig had conceived and recommended to the surgeon. Despite the surgeon’s success with…

  • A fortunate man

    Martin DukeMystic, Connecticut, United States Earlier in the week the last patients were seen, their records given to them or sent to their new physicians, and the final farewells were said. The movers have left, and the office is now empty except for an old cast-iron medicine cabinet, a pencil sharpener attached to the wall,…

  • Helen Taussig: Founder and mother of pediatric cardiology

    Colin PhoonNew York, United States On November 29, 1944, a landmark operation arose from the collaboration of three pioneers: Alfred Blalock, Helen Taussig, and Vivien Thomas.1 Now carrying the eponym of the Blalock-Taussig shunt, this was the first “blue baby” operation done during a remarkable early era of heart surgery. Its concept and success resulted…