Singapore Med J 2013; 54(11): 602-603; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2013217
Alexis Carrel (1873-1944): Pioneer of vascular surgery and organ transplantation
Merchant J, Tan SY
Correspondence: Prof Tan Siang Yong, siang@hawaii.edu
SUMMARY
The first duty of life is to live – to live as completely as possible – to increase life for oneself and for others, to make it more elevated, more sweet, and more beautiful.– Alexis Carrel
Prior to the 1900s, to sever a major central blood vessel meant certain death, and to injure an artery in an extremity would mean an amputation. However, Alexis Carrel, a French-born physician–scientist and controversial historical figure, developed successful vascular suturing techniques that dramatically shifted the odds of life and limb salvage. Carrel later pursued organ transplantation with the first successful animal renal transplant. In recognition of “his work on vascular sutures and the transplantation of blood vessels and organs,” Alexis Carrel, in 1912, was the first scientist in America to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine.
Singapore Med J 2013; 54(11): 602-603; http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.11622/smedj.2013217
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