John Heysham Gibbon Explained

Birth Date:	September 29, 1903
Birth Place:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality:	American
Field:	surgery
Alma Mater:	Princeton University (A.B., 1923) Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia (M.D., 1927)
Known For:	heart–lung machine open heart surgery

John Heysham Gibbon (September 29, 1903  - February 5, 1973) was an American surgeon best known for inventing the heart–lung machine and performing subsequent open-heart surgeries which revolutionized heart surgery in the twentieth century. He was the son of Dr. John Heysham Gibbon Sr., and Marjorie Young Gibbon (daughter of General Samuel Young), and came from a long line of medical doctors including his father, grandfather Robert, great-grandfather John and great-great grandfather.

Early years and education

Gibbon was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on September 29, 1903. Descended from the Gibbon family, who first arrived in Philadelphia from Wiltshire, England in 1684, his father was a surgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital and the Hospital of Jefferson Medical College.

Gibbon was the second oldest of four children and grew up attending the Penn Charter School in Philadelphia. He entered Princeton University at 16 and received his AB in 1923. He went to medical school at Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia and received his MD in 1927. He completed his internship at Pennsylvania Hospital from 1927 to 1929.

Research and the heart-lung machine

Gibbon completed a research fellowship in surgery at Harvard Medical School under Edward Delos Churchill from 1930–31 and 1933–34 and became an assistant surgeon from 1931-1942 at Pennsylvania Hospital and Bryn Mawr Hospital. It was during his research fellowship at Harvard in 1931 when he first developed the idea for a heart-lung machine. A patient had developed a massive pulmonary embolism following a cholecystectomy. The team, under Dr. Churchill, performed a pulmonary embolectomy on her but she did not survive. Gibbon believed that a machine that would have taken her venous blood, oxygenated it and returned it to her arterial system would have saved her. He began work on this machine experimenting on cats at Harvard and continued this research at the University of Pennsylvania. He was successful at maintaining cardiorespiratory function of cats for nearly four hours and published these results in 1937.

During World War II, Gibbon served as a surgeon in the Burma China India Theater, achieving the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and becoming chief of surgery at Mayo General Hospital.

Gibbon continued his research upon his return and on May 6, 1953, he was able to perform the first successful open heart procedure, an ASD closure, on an 18-year-old patient using total cardiopulmonary bypass.^[1] The patient lived for over 30 more years. For this achievement, he was awarded the Lasker Award in 1968 and the Gairdner Foundation International Award in 1960, the second and third most prestigious awards in medicine, respectively.

Career

After the war, Gibbon was appointed assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania in 1945 before accepting the title of Professor of Surgery and Director of Surgical Research at Jefferson Medical College. In 1956, he was appointed the Samuel D Gross Professor of Surgery and Chief of Surgery of Jefferson Medical College and its hospital.

Gibbon retired in 1967 and died after a game of tennis in 1973 of a heart attack. His papers are held at the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland.^[2]

Personal life

Gibbon married Mary Hopkinson, daughter of painter Charles Hopkinson. His wife Mary was an assistant to his development of the heart-lung machine. They had four children: Mary, John, Alice and Marjorie. After his surgical career he retired in Lynnfield Farm in Media, PA, where he devoted himself to his hobbies - painting and poetry.^[3]

Titles and achievements

• President of the American Surgical Association - 1954
• President of the American Association of Thoracic Surgeons - 1960-61
• President of the Society for Vascular Surgery - 1964-65
• National Academy of Sciences - (elected, 1972)
• Chairman of Annals of Surgery - 1947-57

Awards

• Gairdner Foundation International Award - 1960
• Lasker Award in clinical research - 1968
• Dickson Prize - 1973

See also

• Sergei Brukhonenko

References

Sources

• Singh. Jaswinder. Dhaliwal Rajinder Singh . Luthra Suvitesh . Das Debasis . Mehta Sudhir . February 2006. Seventy-five years after the birth of an idea: a tribute to John H Gibbon Jr. J. Am. Coll. Surg.. 202. 2. 384–5. 16427569. 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2005.10.004 .
• Edmunds. L Henry. December 2003. Advances in the heart–lung machine after John and Mary Gibbon. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 76. 6. S2220–3. 14667690. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.09.013 . free.
• Camishion. Rudolph C. December 2003. Remembering John H. Gibbon, Jr, MD. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 76. 6. S2199–200. 14667685. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.09.011 .
• Shumacker. Harris B. December 2003. Reminiscences of John H. Gibbon, Jr, MD. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 76. 6. S2195–6. 14667683. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.09.015 .
• DeBakey. Michael E. December 2003. John Gibbon and the heart–lung machine: a personal encounter and his import for cardiovascular surgery. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 76. 6. S2188–94. 14667682. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.09.009 .
• December 2003. Gibbon and his Heart–Lung Machine: 50 Years and Beyond. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. May 2, 2003. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 76. 6. S2185–259. 14667681. 10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.09.136 . free.
• Fou . Adora Ann . 1997 . John H. Gibbon. The first 20 years of the heart-lung machine . . en-US . 24 . 1 . 1–8 . 0730-2347 . 325389 . 9068131.
• Passaroni . Andréia Cristina . Silva . Marcos Augusto de Moraes . Yoshida . Winston Bonetti . 2015 . Cardiopulmonary bypass: development of John Gibbon's heart-lung machine . Revista Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular: Orgao Oficial da Sociedade Brasileira de Cirurgia Cardiovascular . en . 30 . 2 . 235–245 . 10.5935/1678-9741.20150021 . 4462970 . 26107456.
• Bing. R. August 1994. John H. Gibbon Jr. Cardiopulmonary bypass--triumph of perseverance and character. Clinical Cardiology. 17. 8. 456–7. 7955595. 10.1002/clc.4960170811 . free.
• Templeton. J Y. May 1993. Early recollections of Dr. John H. Gibbon, Jr. Journal of Cardiac Surgery. 8. 3. 396–7. 8507969. 10.1111/j.1540-8191.1993.tb00382.x . 44748074. free.
• Shumacker. H B. December 1984. John H. Gibbon Jr.: the heart–lung machine and progress in cardiovascular surgery. Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 6. 4. 249–63. 6393466 .
• 10.1016/S0003-4975(10)62508-8. Dobell. A R. September 1982. Dobell. Anthony R.C.. John H. Gibbon Jr. Part II. Personal reminiscences. Ann. Thorac. Surg.. 34. 3. 342–4. 7052002 .
• 10.1016/S0003-4975(10)62507-6. Hill. J. Donald. September 1982. John H. Gibbon Jr. Part I. The development of the first successful heart–lung machine. The Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 34. 3. 337–41. 7052001 . 0003-4975. en.
• Shumacker. H B. 1982. John Heysham Gibbon Jr.: September 29, 1903-February 5, 1973. Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences. 53. 213–47. 11620793 .
• Muller. W H. November 1977. The John H. Gibbon Jr. Lecture: the evolution and current status of surgery of the aortic valve. Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons. 62. 11. 20–31. 10315789 .
• Crafoord. C. Dennis C . Shumacker H B . February 1974. John H. Gibbon Jr., as I knew him. Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 41. 3. 187–92. 4593057 .
• Rhoads. J E. February 1974. Memoir of John Heysham Gibbon Jr. 1903-73. Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 41. 3. 194–7. 4593058 .
• February 1974. Memorial service for John Heysham Gibbon Jr., M.D. Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 41. 3. 176–82. 4593056 .
• Camishion. R C. December 1973. John H. Gibbon Jr. (1903-1973). J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.. 66. 6. 982–4. 10.1016/S0022-5223(19)39790-9. 4586305 . free.
• 1970. John H. Gibbon Jr., M.D. Review of Surgery. 27. 4. 230. 4918486 .
• FLICK. J B. August 1957. Memoir of John Heysham Gibbon (1871-1956). Transactions & Studies of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. 25. 2. 116–8. 13468033 .

External links

• John Heysham Gibbon – Medical Doctor with a Penchant for Engineering - Today's Engineer IEEE
• John H. Gibbon Jr. – 10 Notable Jefferson Alumni of the Past – Thomas Jefferson University
• John Gibbon – National Inventors Hall of Fame
• John Heysham Gibbon – inventors.about.com
• John Heysham Gibbon Jr. – Biographical Memoirs, National Academy of Science

Notes and References

1. Madrigal. Alexis. MAY 6, 1953: THE HEART-MACHINE AGE BEGINS. Wired. 10 January 2018. 2010-05-06.
2. Web site: John H. Gibbon Papers 1903-1956. National Library of Medicine.
3. Bauer. Tyler M.. Tchantchaleishvili. Vakhtang. August 2018. The Person Behind the Inventor of the Heart-Lung Machine: John H. Gibbon Jr, MD (1903-1973). Artificial Organs. en. 42. 8. 765–775. 10.1111/aor.13280. 30178889. 52147068. 0160-564X. free.