Michael E. DeBakey

 

Michael Ellis DeBakey (Michel Dabaghi)

(September 7, 1908 – July 11, 2008)

Birthplace: Lake Charles, LA
Location of death: Houston, TX
Cause of death: Natural Causes
Remains: Buried, Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA

DeBakey was a world-renowned Lebanese-American cardiac surgeon, innovator, scientist, medical educator, and international medical statesman. DeBakey was the chancellor emeritus of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and director of The Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and senior attending surgeon of The Methodist Hospital in Houston.

Michael Ellis DeBakey is an internationally recognized and respected physician and surgeon, noted for his pioneering work in the field of cardiovascular surgery, as well as for his innovative research into this and other fields of medicine. He is credited with inventing and perfecting scores of medical devices, techniques and procedures which have led to healthy hearts and productive lives for millions throughout the world. Dacron arteries, arterial bypass operations, artificial hearts, heart pumps and heart transplants are common procedures in today's medicine, thanks to Dr. DeBakey.

Additionally, Michael DeBakey is credited with developing the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (M.A.S.H.) concepts for the military, which has led to saving thousands during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. As well, the development of specialized medical and surgical center systems, in order to treat returning military personnel, subsequently became the Veterans Administration Medical Center System, saving many more lives.  

Dr. DeBakey has earned an enviable reputation as a medical statesman. He has served as advisor to almost every President in the past fifty years, as well as to heads of state throughout the world. He led the movement to establish the National Library of Medicine, which is now the world's largest and most prestigious repository of medical archives.

Research has always been a large part of Dr. DeBakey’s life.  Gifted with an inquiring mind and a desire to write about his observations, Dr. DeBakey was deeply involved in research related to all aspects of cardiothoracic and vascular surgery.  While in medical school and actively engaged in medical research, Dr. DeBakey invented the roller pump, which became an essential component of the heart-lung machine and thus helped launch the era of open-heart surgery.  With his mentor, Dr. Alton Ochsner, he postulated, in 1939, a strong link between smoking and carcinoma of the lung.  He has devised many new operations, devices, and more than 50 surgical instruments for improvement of patient care.

As a lifelong scholar, Dr. DeBakey's writings are reflected in more than 1,300 published medical articles, chapters and books on various aspects of surgery, medicine, health, medical research and medical education, as well as ethical, socio-economics and philosophic discussion in these fields. many of these are now considered classics. 

Dr. DeBakey’s impressive lifelong scholarship is reflected in more than 1,600 medical articles, chapters, and books on various aspects of surgery, medicine, health, medical research, and medical education, as well as ethical, socioeconomic, and philosophic discussions in these fields.  Many of these are now considered classics.  He has written or edited many books, including The Blood Bank and the Technique and Therapeutics of Transfusions; Battle Casualties:  Incidence, Mortality, and Logistic Considerations; Vascular Surgery in World War II; Christopher's Minor Surgery; Cold Injury, Ground Type, In World War II; Buerger's Disease:  A Follow-up Study of World War II Army Cases; Advances in Cardiac Valves: Clinical Perspectives; and Factors Influencing the Course of Myocardial Ischemia.  In addition to his scholarly writings, he was a co-author of The Living Heart, in 1977; The New Living Heart Diet in 1996; The New Living Heart in 1997, a layman's guide to the heart and heart disease, which was on The New York Times Best Sellers list; and The Living Heart Diet, published in 1984; The Living Heart Brand Name Shopper's Guide in 1993; and the Living Heart Guide to Eating Out in 1993.  Dr. DeBakey’s books and articles are reviewed and revered by medical students and surgeons throughout the world today.  He has been widely interviewed and quoted in the public press as a passionate patient advocate and champion of medical research.

This prolific humanitarian has performed more than 60,000 cardiovascular procedures and has trained thousands of surgeons who practice through the world. He has operated on heads of state, princes and celebrities, as well as paupers, with the same exacting surgical technique and compassion to all. In 1976, his students from throughout the world founded the Michael E. DeBakey International Surgical Society. In appreciation of his untiring pedagogic and investigative efforts, the Trustees of Baylor University, where Dr. DeBakey is Chancellor of Baylor College of Medicine, established the Michael E. DeBakey Center for Biomedical Education, as well as the Debakey Lectureship.

Internationally acclaimed for his trailblazing efforts in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, Dr. DeBakey received the prestigious Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award in 1963 for developing the fundamental concept of therapy in arterial disease: that in many forms of aortic and arterial disease, the pathologic process may be well localized, with relatively normal patent proximal and distal arterial beds, thus permitting application of effective surgical treatment.  In 1952, he was the first in this country to perform successful excision and graft replacement of aneurysms of the aorta and obstructive lesions of the major arteries.  In 1953, Dr. DeBakey performed the first successful carotid endarterectomy, thereby establishing the field of surgery for strokes.

On January 5, 1953, he performed the first successful removal and graft replacement of a fusiform aneurysm of the thoracic aorta, and in 1954, the first successful resection and graft replacement of an aneurysm of the distal aortic arch and upper descending thoracic aorta.  In that same year, he performed the first successful resection and graft replacement of an aneurysm of the ascending aorta and the first successful resection of a dissecting aneurysm of the thoracic aorta.  In 1955, Dr. DeBakey was the first to perform a successful resection of an aneurysm of the thoracoabdominal portion of the aorta between the chest and abdomen.  This procedure was done with a graft replacement of the arteries leading from the aorta to the liver, spleen, stomach, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys.  The DeBakey Dacron Graft is used around the world to replace or repair blood vessels.  In 1958, to counteract narrowing of an artery caused by an endarterectomy, Dr. DeBakey performed the first successful patch-graft angioplasty.  This procedure involved patching the slit in the artery from an endarterectomy with a Dacron or vein graft.  The patch widens the artery so that when it is closed, the channel of the artery returns to normal size.  In 1964, Dr. DeBakey was the first to perform a successful aortocoronary artery bypass, using the large vein in the leg to bypass the blocked or damaged area between the aorta and coronary arteries, a life-saving operation now used throughout the world.  In 1968, he led a team of surgeons in a historic multiple transplantation procedure in which the heart, kidneys, and one lung of a donor were transplanted into four recipients.

A pioneer in the development of an artificial heart and cardiac assistors, he performed, in 1966, the first successful human implantation of a partial artificial heart that he devised – a left ventricular assist device.  He also conceived the idea of lining a bypass pump and its connections with Dacron velour, a concept he later applied to the Dacron arterial grafts he had developed.  The DeBakey Ventricular Assist Device (VAD), created in collaboration with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), is a miniature device implanted into the heart to increase blood flow for those suffering from congestive heart failure.

Training successive generations of surgeons is perhaps one of Dr. DeBakey’s greatest legacies.  He has trained myriad surgeons in his more than 50-year career in academic medicine, and he created the fellowships and residency programs that are still thriving in the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery today.  He established the General Surgery Residency, the Fellowship in Trauma and Critical Care, the Thoracic Surgery Residency, the Cardiopulmonary Perfusion Program, the Fellowship in Cardiovascular Surgery, the Pediatric Surgery Residency, the Fellowship in Cardiac Transplantation, and the Vascular Surgery Residency.  Many of his residents and fellows have gone on to successful careers as chairmen and directors of their own academic surgical programs in this country and abroad.

Dr. DeBakey has received more than 50 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities, as well as innumerable national and international accolades and awards from educational institutions, professional and civic organizations, and governments.  He has received honors from many Heads-of-State throughout the world, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction in 1969 from President Lyndon Johnson, the highest honor a United States citizen can receive, and the National Medal of Science in 1987 from President Ronald Reagan.   In 2000, the Library of Congress awarded him its Living Legend Award, and in 2001, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded him its Invention of the Year Award for the DeBakey Ventricular Assist Device.  In tribute to his outstanding contributions and dedication, numerous awards, institutes, scholarships, and facilities bear his name in the United States and abroad.

He has been honored by the governments of Argentina, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Korea, Lebanon, Panama, Peru, Portugal, and Yugoslavia.  In May, 1978, a 300-lb. bronze bust of Dr. DeBakey, commissioned by King Leopold and Princess Lilian of Belgium and sculpted by the late George Muguet of Paris, was unveiled.  At the ceremony Princess Lilian said:  "He has provided national and international leadership in fighting cardiovascular disease, and this bust will be a symbol of hope and encouragement to all who come here."  The bust stands in the lobby of  Methodist Hospital in Houston.  In 1974, Dr. DeBakey was honored by the Academy of Medical Sciences of the U.S.S.R. as its first American Foreign Member.  In 1992, Dr. DeBakey was inducted into the Academy of Athens, a society of scholars founded by the Greek philosopher Plato.  Although membership is generally restricted to Greeks who have made exceptional contributions to the arts, science, or literature, an exception was made in Dr. DeBakey’s case, as it was for Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill, in view of their extraordinary achievements.  He has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Academy of Medical Films, American Heart Association, Children Uniting Nations, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Foundation for Biomedical Research, International College of Angiology, International Health and Medical Film Festival, Research! America, and Tulane Medical Alumni Association.  Other major awards include the:

    · U.S. Army Legion of Merit (1945)
    · American Medical Association Hektoen Gold Medal (1954 and 1970)
    · Rudolph Matas Award in Vascular Surgery (1954)
    · International Society of Surgery Distinguished Service Award (1958)
     and Leriche Award (1959)
    · American Medical Association Distinguished Service Award (1959)
    · American Medical Association Billings Gold Medal Exhibit Award (1967)
    · American Heart Association Gold Heart Award (1968)
    · Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Academy of Sciences 50th Anniversary Jubilee Medal (1973)
    · Veterans of Foreign Wars Commander-in-Chief’s Medal and Citation (1980)
    · American Surgical Association Distinguished Service Award (1981)
    · Academy of Surgical Research Markowitz Award (1988)
    · Association of American Medical Colleges Special Recognition Award (1988)
    · American Legion Distinguished Service Award (1990)
    · Premio Giuseppe Corradi Award for Surgery and Scientific Research (1997)
    · Russian Military Medical Academy, Boris Petrovsky International Surgeons Award and First Laureate of the Boris Petrovsky Gold Medal (1997)
    · John P. McGovern Compleat Physician Award (1999)
    · Russian Academy of Sciences Foreign Member (1999)
    · Texas Senate and House of Representatives, Adoption of resolutions honoring Dr. DeBakey for 50 years of medical practice in Texas (1999)
    · American Medical Association Virtual Mentor Award (2000)
    · American Philosophical Society Jonathan Rhoads Medal (2000)
    · Library of Congress Bicentennial Living Legend Award (2000)
    · Villanova University Mendel Medal Award (2001)
    · Houston Hall of Fame (2001)
    · NASA Invention of the Year Award (2001)

On July 11, 2008, DeBakey died at The Methodist Hospital in Houston; the cause of death remained unspecified. DeBakey was preceded in death by his first wife, Diana Cooper DeBakey who died of a heart attack in 1972 and by his sons, Houston lawyer Ernest O. DeBakey, who died in 2004, and Barry E. DeBakey, who died in 2007. His brother Ernest, an oncologist in Mobile, Alabama, died in 2006. In addition to his wife, Katrin, and their daughter, Olga, DeBakey was survived by sons Michael and Denis, as well as sisters Lois and Selma DeBakey, who are both medical editors and linguists at Baylor. A memorial service was held at the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart on July 16, 2008 after lying in repose in Houston's City Hall, the first ever to do so. He was granted ground burial in Arlington National Cemetery by the Secretary of the Army. On January 21, 2009, DeBakey became the first posthumous recipient of The Denton A. Cooley Leadership Award, an award he agreed to receive before his death.

Dr. DeBakey was a true Renaissance man, with interests and knowledge ranging across a broad spectrum of disciplines beyond medicine, including history, philosophy, ethics, literature, art, and music, as well as socioeconomic and cultural fields of study.  His keen intellect, ingenuity, personal integrity, compassion, and selfless devotion to the service of humanity have made him a true legend in his own time.