Dr William Thornton Mustard
Dr. William Mustard graduated from the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine in 1937. His service in the Canadian Armed Forces earned him an honorary distinction: he became a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).
In 1947, he began his surgical career at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children. He quickly became known as a bold and innovative surgeon.
A groundbreaking—yet risky—idea
In the early 1950s, heart surgery faced a major obstacle: how can one repair a beating heart without stopping it? But stopping the heart also means halting bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood circulation—something incompatible with life.
In 1951, Dr. Mustard proposed a revolutionary idea: performing open-heart surgery without interrupting bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood flow. His team developed an external bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood diversion system that included a pump, plastic tubing, an oxygenation setup—and four carefully prepared monkey lungs.
The principle was simple: the pump compressed the tubing to push oxygen-poor bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood into the monkey lungs, where it was oxygenated. Once enriched with oxygen, the bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood was returned to the patient’s body.
Tragic beginnings
The first patient, a one-and-a-half-year-old child with a congenital heart defect called a ventricular septal defect (VSD), died during the surgery. The second child, operated on for the same condition, died two hours after the procedure.
Despite these outcomes, Dr. Mustard proceeded with 10 more cases involving children with similar conditions. None of them survived. Given these tragic results, the technique was abandoned.
Two main hypotheses were suggested to explain the failures:
- The patient’s bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood may have reacted poorly to the monkey lungs.
- It was difficult to balance the external circulation, leading either to dangerously low bloodBlood is composed of red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma. Red blood cells are responsible for transporting oxygen and carbon dioxide. White blood cells make up our immune defense system. Platelets contribute to blood pressure or fluid overload.
A lasting legacy
Despite this painful chapter, Dr. Mustard remains a key figure in Canadian medicine. He went on to make major contributions to the surgical treatment of congenital heart defects.
He died of a myocardial infarction on December 11, 1987, at the age of 73. In 1995, he was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
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