Guillermo Escobar Aldasoro

Guillermo Escobar-Aldasoro (February 10th, 1932 – July 16th, 1997) was one of the pioneers of cardiovascular surgery in Mexico. He was also known to be an fierce advocate for improving awareness of cardiovascular diseases as the prominent cause of death in Mexico, most notably by promoting surgical intervention as an alternative to the limited medical treatments available at the time. In the early 1970's the most common cause of death of Mexicans over the age of 45 years was cardiovascular diseases, (most notably from preventable Rheumatic fever). He was the Chief of cardiovascular surgery at the General Hospital of Mexico where he taught future leaders in Mexican cardiovascular surgery.
== Biography ==
=== Early life ===
Born in Mexico City, on February 10th, 1932 he was the only son of Dr. Reynaldo Escobar Castañeda (Surgeon) and Guillermina Aldasoro Suarez and had 3 sisters, Raquel, Susana and Graciela. His father was a general surgeon who was very well known and respected (upon his death had a public school named after him), and notably was an avid writer for dissent to the government and advocated for social reform. Reynaldo suffered a stroke in relation to having Rheumatic aortic vascular disease and ultimately died because of it while Guillermo was in medical school. Notably, Guillermo's uncle on his father's side, Gonzalo Castañeda Escobar was also a renown surgeon while his uncles on his mother's side (Juan Pablo and Eduardo Aldasoro) were pioneers in Mexican aviation and its Air Force.
Guillermo atended the Colegio Cristobal Colon for middle and highschool from 1944-1948, graduating the latter at the age of 16.
=== Marriage and children ===
He was married twice. First to Isabel Chavez and subsequently to Susanne N. Curn.
He had 4 children with Isabel: Maria Isabel, Maria Andrea, Reynaldo Alejandro and Gabriela. With Susanne he had one son: Guillermo Alejandro.
Professional Career
At the age of 17 he entered medical school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1949 and graduated on November 11th, 1955 with his thesis on Giardiasis and its importance in pediatric intestinal diseases. He paid for his education by working as an assitant to a pharmacist, delivering medications.. He completed a general surgery residency at the General Hospital of Mexico and was attacted to cardiovascular surgery and successfully obtained a scholarship to train in the US, contingent he return. He immediately applied to be a teacher at his Alma Mater in 1957, ultimately rising to the title of full Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and was named Professor of the Cardiovascular Clinic for over 20 years.
He applied for a position as a fellow for two years in cardiovascular surgery at Baylor College of Medicine with Michael DeBakey and in 1962 he went to Houston. There he was trained by the pioneers and giants in cardiovascular surgery, who in addition to Dr. DeBakey, included Denton Cooley, Stanley E Crawford, David V. Feliciano and Jimmy Howell. He returned to Mexico in 1964 (to eventually become the Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at the :es:Hospital_General_de_México|Hospital General de Mexico from 1973-1988). He immediately began disseminating the importance of public awarness of cardiovascular diseases and the benefits of good surgical management by creating symposiums targeting a wide variety of audiences, as well as publishing updates in the treatment of severe vascular diseases like Leriche Syndrome and advanced gangrene . He was a strong advocate for initiating campaigns against the development of rheumatic heart diseases, bemoaning the fact that while campaigns existed to prevent and treat other illnesses like tuberculosis, there were none against the primary cause of death over age 45 (especially having lost his father to complications of this same illness). He also championed campaigns for greater awareness of deep vein thrombosis, venous disease and pulmonary embolus and organized multidiciplinary conferences with his colleagues in pulmonary medicine, hematology etc to disseminate better treatments. While the Hospital General was his primary academic appointment, he was worked at the Hospital 20 de Noviembre and the Hospital Fernando Quiroz. Knowing that the patients at the General Hopsital were poor and unable to afford the comercially-available heart valves, he learned how to hand-make valves from pig meninges on to a steel ring, and his fellows would meet with him weekly to create the valves needed for the service.
As cardiovascular surgery was advancing in leaps and bounds, he decided to return to Houston and train again with Dr. DeBakey and his team in 1977. When asked why he wanted to do another fellowship that was notoriusly caustic and laborius, he reportedly said, "because I am a maschoist!". After a 6 month fellowship, he returned to Mexico to share his newly-adquired knowledge.
He was pasionate about improving the outcomes of patients with diabetes and severe peripheral vascular disease and developed a research lab to study the feasibility of xenotransplantation of fetal pancreatic tissue to treat diabetes, as well as testing novel treatments for the severe calcification seen in patients with peripheral vascular disease from advanced diabetes and renal disease. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and joined the Mexican Academy of Surgery in 1974, rising various ranks within it until his death.
In 1985, a large earthquake in Mexico City destroyed (among many other buildings) the residence hall of the students and trainees of The General Hospital of Mexico, killing many who were sleeping within. Dr. Escobar and his wife, Dr. Susanne Curn-Escobar (also a cardiovascular surgeon) rapidly created a foundation, and leveraging (among other things) their ties to Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX they obtained funding for 15 injured residents to travel to undergo rehabilitation and medical treatment. Their successful intervention was recognized by the Secretary of Health and the US Ambassador 
Dr. Escobar was a true academic surgeon who uncharacteristically published both in National, as well as International journals (see below), produced surgical videos (several of which won competitions), and was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal, International Angiology. He became a founding member of the Mexican Society of Cardiac Surgery in 1990. In parallel to his academic, surgical career at the General Hospital of Mexico, he was a founding member of the new Private Hospital, The Metropolitan Hospital which opened in December, 1976 and was its second President of the medical society from 1978-1979.
=== Death ===
Legacy 
Dr. Escobar was a pioneer in delivering and teaching modern cardiovascular surgery in Mexico, who among other things innovated several surgical techniques; including some of the most innovative and extreme bypasses to save lives and limbs. However, his most notable legacy lies in his storied career as a surgical teacher, scientist and patient advocate. He laid the foundation for cardiovascular and vascular surgery as a subspecialty in Mexico which was distinct from traditional general surgery as well as organized numerous symposiums to disseminate modern medicine and surgery (many bringing his old teachers and friends from Houston). After his death, his life was memorialized at the Mexican Academy of Surgery by Drs. Fernández del Castillo Sánchez Carlos and Palma García Salvador, and published in their scientific journal, Cirugia y Cirujanos [Vol. 66 Núm.4. Julio-Agosto 1998 Pags. 159-161 Cir Ciruj 1998; 66(4)]. Prior to his death he wrote a fictional story in Spanish loosly tied to his experiences entitled, El Reloj de Arena. While published, it was never distributed widely, although ocassionally found on book store websites.
== Published works ==
See Pubmed under the author names:
G E Aldasoro
G Escobar Aldasoro
== Recognition ==
Include honours, decorations, awards, and distinctions in this section, if any.
Category:1932 births
Category:1997 deaths