The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1922-11-03
HEART OPERATIONS
SAVES MANY LIVES

London, Oct. 2S-Many men are
walking about alive and well to this
day. who by all ordinary medical the
cries, should be long dead and bu-
rieda
This fact Is reveaed in one Of the
volumes of the "Official History of
the War" publish d. The book is
meant for the doctors 1t deals with
the surgical work in France and the
other fighting fronts during HOSTILE
ties, but it contains. hidden among
it's medical cases and descriptions
much that is of supreme interest to
tbs layman.
Instances are given of wonderful
operations on the heart and cures of
casualties which were at first sight
fatal.
A trooper wounded by a bullet
rode several miles to dressing sta
ton and collapsed. An X-ray pho
tograph of the man showed the bull
let in the interior border of the
heart. The patient lived for two
months in that condition. Then he
was operated on. An opening was
made and the bullet removed by a
pair of forceps from the extremity of
the heart. This manipulation caus-
ed little distrss SIS to the heart, and the
pulse only failed momentarily.
A man was admitted to hispital
after receiving shrapnel ball
wound. The ball was embedded in
the wall of the left ventricle, and it
was removed with a scoop. Thb
cavity was treated with pure carbolic
acid. The patient soon recovered.
Curved Needle.
A soldier with a large wound in
the chest showed that he had tear
in the membrane surrounding the /
heart and also a wound in the heart !
itself. This wound was carefully !
stitched with catgut on curved !
needle. the needle being entered half
an inch from the edges of the wound.
The operation was successful.
1t is obvious from these surgical
records that the popular idea that
"a bullet in the heart" means death
is wrong. One soldier whose heart
was penetrated thru by bullet from
a rifle placed against his chest lived
for a considerable time.
A section of the book deals with
blood TRANSMISSION. 1t was discov-
cred to be possible to store live
blood and to use it as occasion made
necessary. The blood was drawh
from willing donors during times OF
mac tivity and kept for use during
rush periods The giving OF blood
to a sorely stricken man thus made
no more demands on an overworked
surgical staff than the giving OF
simple saline infusion, and a far
greater number OF patients could be
treated than under ordinary direct
TRANSMISSION from one person to an
other.
The blood taken for emergency
was stored in ice boxes and the
were preserved. This
blood had to be heated to body
warmth before being administered.
No i'll effects were observed from the
u.s. OF preserved blood cOrpuscles ex-
cept in one desperate case.
What is the effect OF going into
battle on the ordinary civilian?
1t is scientifically aHafyzed in the
book. The excitement Of an attack
converts the normal human being
into simple fighting machine. The
effects of the excitement are Ito in
crease the heart beats, raise the
blood pressure. and set free glucose
from the liver in response to the de-
mand of the muscles for more food
stuffs." The utility. of these bodily
changes is obvious. enabling the man
to do more muscular work and to
withstand fatigue longer.