Evening star., 1943-03-28
Boys Life Saved by Operation for EnIorqed Heart
By ROBERT C. HARPER.

Franklin Ray Anderson, S. smiled
at his mother yesterday in Gar
field Hospital. He had reason to
smile; he is going home tomorrow
after having his life saved by an
unusual heart operation.
Now the lad can look forward to
normal child's life, no longer
troubled with an enlarged heart.
His recovery also revealed that
similar operation was performed on
5-year-old girl at Garfield last
November, both being made by DR..
Edgar w. Davis after diagnosis by
Dr. Bernard J. Walsh. heart spe-
cialist. The girls heart is now
normal, and that of the boy has
been reduced.
The boys heart was Is per cent
larger than normal. Unless this
growth was checked, physicians
said he was doomed to die before
II years of age.
Faced with this, Mr.. and Mrs.
Allen F. Anderson, 21l6 Military
road Arlington, Va, intrusted the
life of their son to DR.. Davis. spe-
cialist in diseases of the lungs.
Blood Passage Closed.
What DR.. Davis did was to close
an abnormal blood passage bv
tying of the ductus arterios1s with
two llgatures.
Describing the operation, DR. F. J.
Elseman, superintendent of Gar
1leld Hospital, said:
"A ductus arteriosus is A blood
vessel very short in length. but verv
large IN size, which is normally
present in baby before birth, This
VeSsel serves as passage way for
the blood to 60 from the pulmonary
artery directly into the aorta. thus
preventing the blood from going
through the lungs. (An infant be-
1ore birth has no reason to REQUIRE
blood circulation through the lungs
because there is no air in the lungs)
1he pulmonary artery is the
vessel that carries blood to the
lungs. The aorta is a vessel which
carries blood to other parts of the
body. When a baby is born and
the lungs become inflated with air,
the ductus arteriosus is supposed to
close. Occasionally, however, this
vessel does not close, and as a result
of the vessel remaining open, and
because the blood pressure in the
aorta is so much greater than that
in the pulmonary artery. it produces
tremendous back pressure on the
heart and makes the heart become
very large.
Operation Takes Two Hours.
An opera ton for closing of this
vessel, thereby preventing enlarge
ment with subsequent heart failure
and death, is extremely tedious.
This operation twice has been
performed successfully by DR.. Davis
in this hospital within the last four
months. We have no knowledge of
this operation having been previ-
ouSly performed in this part of the
country and certainly not at Gar
field
The operat ton consumed two
hours because of its delicate nature.
Dr. ElSeman SAID his operating su-
pervisor, man with 20 years oper-
atlng room experience, had never
seen one like it before
Mrs. Anderson said an X-ray
taken when her son was only 1872
months old showed an abnormal
heart, but they decided to wait a
few wears to see if the condition
would be rectiied by nature. Two
weeks ago another X-ray disclosed
heart Is per cent larger than
normal and an operation was ad-
viSed.
Playing with bunny doll, little
Franklin smiled at his mother as
he told her he would be happy to
60 home again. There were tears
in her eyes as she said simply: DR.
Davis will always be No. in our
lives"