FIRST OFFPRINT EDITION OF BLALOCK AND TAUSSIG’S LANDMARK THE SURGICAL TREATMENT OF MALFORMATIONS OF THE HEART

BLALOCK, Alfred and TAUSSIG, Helen B. The Surgical Treatment of Malformations of the Heart in Which There Is Pulmonary Stenosis or Pulmonary Atresia. FROM: The Journal of the American Medical Association, Volume 128, May 19, 1945, pp. 189-202. Chicago: American Medical Association, 1945. Octavo, staple-bound as issued, original blue paper wrappers; pp. 43. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. $4500.

First offprint edition of this landmark paper on cardiac surgery.

“Cardiac surgery owes much to the team from Johns Hopkins that developed an operation for tetralogy of Fallot, a common form of cyanotic congenital heart disease. The ‘Blalock-Taussig’ or ‘blue baby’ operation, first performed by Alfred Blalock in 1933, was immediately recognized as a major advance. Surgeons from around the world came to Baltimore to observe and learn the new procedure, and the media attention was unprecedented. The fundamental problem in patients with tetralogy of Fallot is that an inadequate blood supply reaches the lungs… before the advent of the Blalock-Taussig operation they invariably died as a result of the condition and its complications. Helen Taussig, the pioneer pediatric cardiologist, was the first to suggest the creation of an anastomosis… and she urged Blalock to develop this innovative operation. Blalock, working with his African-American laboratory assistant Vivien Thomas, eventually succeeded in finding a means of connecting the left subclavian artery to the pulmonary artery, thus creating a shunt that dramatically increased the pulmonary blood flow. Both Blalock and Taussig contributed greatly to the emergence of their disciplines” (Norman, 100 Books Famous in Medicine 97). See Garrison & Morton 3043.

A pristine copy in fine condition.