Perfusion of isolated organs and the first heart-lung machine

Abstract

In 1885, Max von Frey (1852-1932), while working in Carl Ludwig's Physiological Institute in Leipzig, Germany, designed an apparatus that had criteria characteristic of a heart-lung machine. With this device, he perfused the entire lower extremity of dogs, and took measurements of oxygen consumption, and carbon dioxide and lactate production. In 1935, another type of perfusion apparatus was constructed by Charles A Lindbergh (1902-1973). This device was the result of cooperation with Alexis Carrel (1873-1944) who was a pioneer of experimental organ transplantation. Using Lindbergh's pulsating device, organs such as thyroid, ovary, suprarenal gland, spleen, heart and kidney from fowls and cats were perfused with an oxygenated medium, and were maintained under sterile conditions. Beginning in 1934, John H Gibbon (1903-1973) developed and tested a heart-lung machine to institute cardiopulmonary bypass in cats during experimental occlusion of the pulmonary artery. In 1953, he performed the first successful open-heart operation in a patient using a heart-lung machine. This included elements that were similar to those used by von Frey - ie, the oxygenator and the pumps for continuous circulation of blood. A comparison of the three experimental devices revealed the following: the application for experimental purposes preceded clinical use; the development shifted from Europe to the United States, and was achieved by people who were not specialists; and the intention to build such a device was first purely scientific interest, but later shifted to the care for and treatment of patients with heart and circulatory defects by open-heart surgery.