Open Heart Surgery Using Hypothermia: "In 1955, open-heart surgery was performed at the NIH Clinical Center using hypothermia. The patient was placed in a bed of ice to lower the total body temperature so that body tissues used very little oxygen. This permitted interruption of the blood flow for a brief period so that some procedures could be performed. This technique preceded the advent of the heart-lung machine, which today takes over the job of pumping blood during heart surgery."Open Heart Surgery Using Hypothermia: "In 1955, open-heart surgery was performed at the NIH Clinical Center using hypothermia. The patient was placed in a bed of ice to lower the total body temperature so that body tissues used very little oxygen. This permitted interruption of the blood flow for a brief period so that some procedures could be performed. This technique preceded the advent of the heart-lung machine, which today takes over the job of pumping blood during heart surgery."
Open Heart Surgery Using Hypothermia: "In 1955, open-heart surgery was performed at the NIH Clinical Center using hypothermia. The patient was placed in a bed of ice to lower the total body temperature so that body tissues used very little oxygen. This permitted interruption of the blood flow for a brief period so that some procedures could be performed. This technique preceded the advent of the heart-lung machine, which today takes over the job of pumping blood during heart surgery."