Michael DeBakey, Consummate Medical Geek, Dead At 99

NIckGorton writes "Dr. Michael DeBakey, the father of modern heart surgery, died this week at age 99. He was integral to the development of pretty much everything in modern cardiovascular surgery: bypass (heart-lung machines that made open-heart surgery possible for the first time), coronary artery bypass surgery (he did the first one ever), carotid endarterectomey (again he performed the first one), the development of Dacron graft blood vessels, and the development of MASH units. He was a consummate geek and numerous surgical instruments bear his name. He was also the first surgeon to videotape surgeries — in the 1960s. He was considered by the NEJM to be the single greatest surgeon alive until two days ago. In his career he performed over 50,000 heart surgeries and practiced medicine (though not surgery) until the day he died. In 2005 he underwent the Debakey procedure, which he pioneered, to treat the aortic dissection he suffered."

Comments

Awesome Man

[EdIII]

That man was truly awesome. I don't believe in the Christian god, but I don't believe in a black void either. Wherever he went I hope it's everything he deserves and I pray for that.

What an incredible contribution to science and medical technology. The number of lives that man had affected with his work.

50,000 heart surgeries? That is tireless work. If he started at 30 and worked till the day he died, that is about 2 surgeries a day. He was unable to perform surgery for the last part of his life, so it was more like 3-5 surgeries a day. That's over 50,000 people that got to live longer with their families because of him DIRECTLY. How many other people survived because of his advancements? Millions? probably, and possibly more than that.

This man was truly awesome in every sense of the word, and inspiring to others. Anybody working in any scientific field hopes to make such a contribution to the world.

May he rest in piece.

Re:Awesome Man

[Simpsoid]

I too don't believe in any god's, but may god rest his soul. Men and women like this are truely an asset to humanity and the human race. It's dedication like this to the sciences and arts that really makes the human spirit shine. So wherever you are Dr. DeBakey, I hope you are in peace.

Re:Awesome Man

[cduffy]

By leaving the poor, the desolate, the hungry to die, we are negating all advances made by society.

How so?

Re:Awesome Man

[Kamokazi]

I agree...not a god person here either, but if there is any sort of afterlife he deserves the very best. Mark my grandfather under the millions he indirectly affected. He is still alive thanks in no small part to this man's work. I knew of him, but had no idea he performed that many surgeries on his own. Simply astounding. The saddest part is, more people will remember idiots like G. W. Bush than this man.

Re:Awesome Man

[wazza]

From the Wikipedia page:

and in 1953 he performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy.

This man is a brilliant bloke, and a bit of a bloody legend.

I've never met the man, but because of only one of the things he pioneered, I can tell people who've just found out - after I've done an ultrasound - they've got an 80-99% blockage of their carotid artery, that they can have a short, straightforward surgery and have an excellent chance of not having any side-effects.

This beats the daylights out of having a (possibly massive) stroke, which is what happened before endarterectomy and stenting.

I can't imagine the alternative - "Yeah, you've got a critical blockage of one of your arteries. Unfortunately there's nothing we can do about it. Go home and try not to have a stroke."

Anyways, a posthumous thanks & cheers! from someone who is fortunate enough to get the advantage of your work nearly every week.

Re:Awesome Man

[Kamokazi]

I should have said 'God' person then. I don't believe in God/Allah as the Christians/Jews/Muslims do, nor any other diety concieved by humans. I really doubt there is any sort of afterlife. But my knowledge of science tells me that there is so much we do not understand about our universe to rule out the impossibilty of an afterlife in one form or another.

If you prefer to stick a label on me, then call me agnostic. I don't believe in any sort of supernatural diety, but I am not closed to that possibility like atheists are.

Welcome back.

[gcnaddict]

First comment since 2006 and this is what you post?

I had the option of modding you down, but it felt more appropriate to bring this up instead.

And Yet....

[Anonymous Coward]

I found it rather sad (or just perplexing) that his obit was overshadowed by the death of Tony Snow, a journalist.

NBC News (Saturday) didn't even mention him at all, but did have a glowing 3+ piece on Snow.

Re:And Yet....

[Anonymous Coward]

Journalists take care of their own, just like politicians take care of their own when it comes to naming bridges, buildings, and streets. "Gee, that guy worked hard every day, he deserves to be honored for the next 200 years". Not to people outside that profession thoughs.

I hope that when Dick Cheney passes away, some publications will have the good sense to report it as follows: "Former VP Richard Cheney passed away today. We extend our condolences to his family and friends. Now, let's move on."

Lived to 99

[able1234au]

Obviously, he must know something!

"Consummate geek"

[Otter]

It's possible that DeBakey was indeed some sort of "geek", even a consummate one, but that's not indicated by anything mentioned here or in the link. I've never quite understood the logic by which anime-obsessed, Monty Python-incessantly-quoting dweebs attach themselves onto everyone else's technical achievements.

Re:"Consummate geek"

[exley]

To me it felt more like the word "geek" was included just to justify it being on Slashdot and fend off some of the inevitable "WTF is this doing on Slashdot?" Posts. Both of which would be stupid, since this is science and technology related -- neither of which are off-topic here.

"Geek" is such a nebulous term anyway. Anyone with sufficient interest in something can be considered a geek. Of course, around here, the word does have a certain connotation.

Triage

[tomhudson]

Exactly. By leaving the poor, the desolate, the hungry to die, we are negating all advances made by society.

Malthus still wants his due. As some point we're going to have to have some sort of triage.

We can't save everyone, and neither should we. We need to remove between $X and $X+$Y (where both $X and $Y are in the billions) people from the planet. How do you want to do it? War? Famine? Disease? Drought?

By not taking action new, we're condemning a lot MORE people to suffer in the future.

Compared to that, compulsory abortion after the second kid is a blessing.

Re:Triage

[QuoteMstr]

Prosperity does more to curb fertility than withholding of medical care, you cruel, cruel man.

Separated at birth?

[Eric Wayte]

Dr. DeBakey - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debakey
Prof. Farnsworth - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubert_J._Farnsworth