Episode 8- Dr F. JOHN LEWIS

Episode 8- Dr F. JOHN LEWIS


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Doctor F. John Lewis is the first surgeon to successfully complete an open-heart surgery by closing an atrial septal defect in a young 5-year old patient, Jacqueline Jones.


He used hypothermia to stop the blood circulation. This cardiac arrest gives him time to fix the hole in the heart, between the two atriums. This atrial septal closing lasted 5 minutes 30 seconds, with 27 degrees Celcius hypothermia (81 degrees Fahrenheit). The normal body temperature is 37.2 degrees Celcius


Dr Lewis and his colleagues operated more than 60 patients over the next three years using hypothermia.

He died on September 20, 1993 à the age of 77.