DEVELOPMENT AND FIRST HUMAN IMPLANTATION OF AUTOMATIC DEFIBRILLATOR.


Mirowski, Michel; Morton Mower; Philip Reid; Levi Watkins and colleagues. archive of 11 items relating to the automatic implantable defibrillator: 1) Mirowski et al. Chronic Animal and Bench Testing of the Implantable Automatic Defibrillator, 1979, offprint of presentation; 2) Mirowski et al. Termination of malignant ventricular arrhythmias with an implanted automatic defibrillator in human beings. 1980, pp 322-324, [In:] New England Journal of Medicine (complete issue of August 7, 1980, with advertisements and printed covers). Very fine; 3) Mirowski et al. Termination of malignant ventricular arrhythmias with an implanted automatic defibrillator in human beings. 1980, offprint (of item 2);4) Watkins, Mirowski, Mower et al. Automatic defibrillation in man: The initial surgical experience. 1981, offprint. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY WATKINS: "Bruce, Thank you for your letter and comments. I remember you well and enjoyed your friendship. Good luck & continued success. Levi Watkins"; 5) Mirowski et al. Mortality in patients with implanted automatic defibrillators. 1983, offprint; 6) Mirowski. Management of malignant ventricular tachyarrhythmias with automatic implanted cardioverter-defibrillators. IN: Complete August 1983 issue of Modern Concepts of Cardiovascular Disease; 7) Watkins, Mower, et al. Trials of the automatic implantable defibrillator in man: A three-year program report. 1983, offprint; 8) Chris Benson. Black surgeon brings new hope to heart patients: Dr. Levi Watkins Jr. develops procedure for implanting device to aid those stricken with life-threatening disorder. 1982, pp. 96-100 with 6 photographic illustrations of Watkins and the ICD, IN: EBONY magazine (complete issue of January 1982 with advertisements and color cover); 9) John Kastor. Michel Mirowski and the automatic implantable defibrillator. 1989, offprint. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY KASTOR: "To Bruce Fye, A real medical historian. John Kastor."; 10) Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology. In Memorium: Michel Mirowski, M.D. 10/14/24-3/26/90. Entire issue of May 1991 in the original wrappers with 19 articles about Mirowski and the implantable defibrillator; 11) Mower and R. G. Hauser. Developmental history, early use, and implementation of the automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator. 1993. xerographic copy of article. INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY MOWER: "With best regards, Morton Mower."Mehta and Khan include automatic implantable cardiac defibrillators in their list of cardiology's 10 greatest discoveries of the 20th century, writing, "This device was meant to abort ventricular fibrillation at its onset, thus averting the inevitably fatal outcome ... In February 1980, after extensive animal research, Mirowski's team successfully treated their first human patient with an AICD [citing items 2 and 3] ... Soon the AICD became the treatment of choice for patients with life-threatening ventricular tachyarrhythmias" (Mehta and Khan, "Cardiology's 10 greatest discoveries of the 20th century," Texas Heart Institute Journal 29, 2002, pp 164-171). Levi Watkins Jr. (1944-2015) was the surgeon who implanted the first defibrillator in a human. He was a cardiac surgery resident at the Johns Hopkins Hospital when W. Bruce Fye was a cardiology fellow and junior faculty member there (1975-1978).