A dream of the heart: the life of John H. Gibbon, Jr, father of the heart-lung machine

Abstract

A dream of the heart: the life of John H. Gibbon, Jr, father of the heart-lung machine Harris Shumacker, Jr; Santa Barbara; 1999; Fithian; 304 pages; $24.95. “A dream of the heart” is yet another contribution by an outstanding, delightful gentleman, Dr Harris B. Shumacker, Jr. He describes the life of John H. Gibbon, Jr, who developed the first heart-lung machine that was successfully used to perform an open-heart operation for the repair of a heart defect under direct vision. The story is not just the biography of Dr Gibbon. The author, his close friend, also includes brief descriptions of the genealogy of the Gibbon family, the history of America, and the development of cardiac surgery that occurred in the 20th century. The original John Gibbon emigrated from England in 1864. The Gibbons were instrumental in the development of Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Several were physicians and attended and taught at Jefferson Medical School. Dr Gibbons's father was a prominent surgeon in Philadelphia. Both father and son attended Jefferson Medical School, took their surgical training at Pennsylvania Hospital, served as chiefs of surgery at Jefferson Medical School, and later became presidents of the prestigious American Surgical Association. The author entertainingly describes the history of the first cardiac operations, usually for traumatic injuries, that were sporadically performed prior to the mid-1900s and also the successful operations for the treatment of patent ductus arteriosus, coarctation of the aorta, mitral stenosis, and arterial wounds that occurred in the 1930s and 1940s, which were the beginning of cardiac and vascular surgery as we know it today. Anyone wishing to use this book as a source for writing a more complete review of the history of cardiac surgery may be disappointed. The author chose not to cite the sources for the important historical events that are described. In 1930, John Gibbon became a research fellow in Dr Edward Churchill's laboratory at Boston City Hospital. While there, he assisted Dr Churchill in the performance of a pulmonary embolectomy on a dying patient. Although unsuccessful, this was not unexpected, since there had been no survivors of such an operation in the United States. Gibbon credits this experience for his interest in developing a machine that would perform the work of the heart and lung so that the pulmonary artery could be opened and the embolus removed. The quest of Gibbon and others for the development of this machine is appropriately related by the author. Gibbon's wish was fulfilled in 1953 when he used the “Gibbon pump oxygenator” to successfully accomplish the repair of an atrial septal defect. To answer his question “What makes Jack run?” the author had much help. The author and Gibbon were longtime good friends and had spent much time together with and without their families. In the preparation of the book, members of the family and associates were asked to tell or write remembrances of Gibbon. Several well-recognized cardiac surgeons' letters are included in the book. All of these contributions have enabled the author to help us understand the strengths and weaknesses of the person who fulfilled his “dream of the heart.” The book should be of great interest to cardiovascular surgeons, their family and friends, and patients who have experienced or benefitted from the explosive growth of cardiac and vascular surgery in the mid and later years of the 20th century.