Talk:Louis Washkansky

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Double pneumonia[edit]

Is there such a disease? Alpheus 09:54, 2 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Double" pneumonia is bilateral pneumonia -- an infection of both lungs.

It was kind of strange how this guy just died. In a book , I read it said he had "the best five days of health" , then suddenly he gets sick and dies..--75.8.83.54 (talk) 16:04, 30 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Tone[edit]

It's a nice story, but the article's content needs to be rewritten for encyclopedic rather than literary merit. --Stlemur 00:57, 3 December 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The article says that the donor was 55, but according to the link to her biography, she was about 24. 213.48.30.2 (talk) 08:12, 3 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Move to South Africa[edit]

It seems strange to me that he moved to South Africa when he was nine with "friends". Anyone clear this up? Thehalfone (talk) 10:11, 7 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Operation[edit]

I noticed when looking over heart surgery articles that in this one it says the operation took five hours, however in the article regarding Philip Blaiberg (second heart-transplant recipient) it states the first heart-transplant operation took nine hours. anyone clarify? 24.9.5.229 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 06:21, 23 June 2010 (UTC).[reply]

main article on first transplant says 5 hours, this says 9 hours

86.136.253.202 (talk) 15:06, 16 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Every Second Counts, Donald McRae, 2006, brackets the time of Washkansky's operation at about 6 hours. This is a well-written book for the interested lay person. All the same, it's just one source. We need additional sources. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 00:37, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Hardy's xenotransplant in '64 the first, Barnard's '67 transplant with Washkansky as recipient the seond[edit]

Look up the article for James Hardy (surgeon). Hardy did a xenotransplant by inserting a chimp's heart into a dying man's chest. This heart beat for about an hour, with the man never regaining consciousness. Please look up the article if you like. It has more than enough references.

I just don't want to go this alone. I'd like to pick up some colleagues and co-workers who will help update the various heart transplant articles as needed, or at least give people enough time to jump in if they're interested. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 00:42, 19 January 2017 (UTC)[reply]

McRae's book brackets approximately 6 hours for Chris's first transplant, two other sources say 5 hours[edit]

Our article currently states: "The nine-hour operation . . . "

And yet Every Second Counts, by Donald McRae, 2006, brackets a time of six hours.

page 190: "It was almost midnight . . . " And he still has to shower, dress in scrubs, and go visit Louis Washkansky.

page 196: "At 6:13 a.m. they made another fretful attempt. 'Cut the pump,' Barnard said. There was another hesitation in the heart, as if it was deciding whether or not to live in its huge new body, and then it began to beat more strongly. . . "

So, a definitely time of success, although they still needed to close up Louis's chest. But no definite time for the beginning.

dive in and help if this topic interests you. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 17:44, 16 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

1967: First Heart Transplant Patient Goes Under the Knife, Haaretz, This Day in Jewish History, David B. Green, 3.12.2013

" . . . Christiaan Barnard, who had studied transplant surgery in the United States and had already performed heart replacements on some 200 dogs, [48 dogs, per McRae's article in the Guardian] . . . "

" . . . The five-hour operation, carried out by a team of 30 led by Barnard, began at 1 A.M. on December 3, and reached its emotional peak when Barnard applied an electrical current to the transplanted heart and it began to beat within Washkansky’s body. . . "

Okay, so roughly in line with McRae's book. I'm going to stick with "approximately six hours." It's a nice round number. Plus, this is a popularly written article with at least the one mistake about the number of dogs. Well, it's a bio pict on the patient, which is fine. Which is actually a good thing, but it's not focusing on the technical aspects of the operation. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 19:12, 16 December 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Christiaan Neethling Barnard, South African History Online, updated 11 Jan 2017. [with two citations]

" . . . The operation lasted five hours and the patient survived, . . . "

Okay, two vs. one, but McRae's book has a ton of references and he interviewed a lot of people. All the same, he could still make a mistake.

And then, I don't want this article to exactly match up with the Christiaan Barnard article. If there's genuine doubt, I'd rather us signal that by having slightly different numbers. Might motivate people to jump in and try and find additional sources. At the very least, gives people a more realistic view of the range of claims being made.

And we have cited the Smithsonian source saying 9 hours, which I have not yet looked up.

Going to go with "approximately six hours" for the time being. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 20:10, 5 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]

McLean, Alison (December 2007). "December Anniversaries - History & Archaeology". Smithsonian. Retrieved 17 August 2013.

broken link

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/december-anniversaries-2-180230902/

this blurb does say 9 hours, but it is short. Plus, it gets Denise Darvall's age wrong. She was actually 25. FriendlyRiverOtter (talk) 20:49, 5 May 2017 (UTC)[reply]