Fred Wu, MD 🫀 吳明杰 Profile picture
I take care of adolescents & adults with congenital heart disease. #MedPeds #ACHD @BostonChildrens @BrighamWomens. Clinics in Boston, Providence, & Lebanon, NH.
Sep 12, 2018 16 tweets 5 min read
To date, smallpox is the only major human disease that has been eradicated. September 11 happens to mark 40 years since Janet Parker became the last person ever to die from smallpox, and if you're interested, I thought I'd briefly share the story of this tragic milestone. Smallpox is a viral infection that has been around for millennia. It was characterized by a fever followed by an eruption of skin lesions that ranged from very mild to overwhelming and lethal. Ramses V, who died in 1156 BCE, is believed to be one of the earliest known cases.
Sep 3, 2018 8 tweets 4 min read
It's open heart surgery's 66th birthday! On September 2, 1952, Dr. F. John Lewis at @UMNChildrens closed an atrial septal defect in 5yo Jacqueline Johnson using only total-body hypothermia, allowing him to halt her circulation for 5-1/2 minutes as he performed the operation. #CHD Using cooling blankets, Jacqueline was cooled to 28°C before her chest was opened, her systemic veins and pulmonary artery were clamped, and her right atrium opened. In the photo Lewis appears at the near side of the table. Standing on a stool behind him is Dr. Walt Lillehei.
Aug 14, 2018 5 tweets 3 min read
Anyone remember the young man pictured here with Princess Di? On Aug 13, 1985, at 3 years old, Jamie Gavin of Dublin made headlines internationally as the youngest person at the time to undergo heart-lung transplant. The surgery was performed by Sir Magdi Yacoub. #CHD #DonateLife Jamie was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (#HLHS). Surgical options then were few. Bill Norwood had only just published his initial series on HLHS palliation; most centers remained wary. In 1984, another baby with HLHS, Baby Fae, received a baboon heart transplant.
May 24, 2018 18 tweets 6 min read
Dr. Helen Taussig, considered to be the founder of pediatric cardiology and best known for her role in developing the Blalock-Taussig shunt operation for "blue babies," was born 120 years ago today. Happy birthday, Dr. Taussig! #CHD As several others have pointed out, Dr. Taussig persisted in the face of great adversity—no small part of which was due to her gender at a time when medicine was dominated by men—to become one of the most influential physicians of our time. A few highlights...