Denton Cooley facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Denton Cooley
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| Born |
Denton Arthur Cooley
August 22, 1920 Houston, Texas, US
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| Died | November 18, 2016 (aged 96) Houston, Texas, US
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| Known for | First clinical implantation of a total artificial heart |
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| Profession | Surgeon |
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| Sub-specialties | Cardiovascular surgery |
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Denton Arthur Cooley (August 22, 1920 – November 18, 2016) was a famous American heart surgeon. He was known for performing the first surgery to put a total artificial heart into a person. Dr. Cooley also started The Texas Heart Institute. He was the chief surgeon there and worked at other big hospitals like Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center and Texas Children's Hospital.
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Early Life and Education
Denton Cooley was born in Houston, Texas, on August 22, 1920. He went to the University of Texas at Austin and finished in 1941. There, he played on the basketball team and studied zoology.
He became interested in surgery during his college classes. He then started medical school at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He finished his medical degree and surgical training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. At Johns Hopkins, he helped Dr. Alfred Blalock with a special surgery. This surgery was called the "Blue Baby" procedure. It helped babies born with a congenital heart defect, which is a problem with their heart from birth.
In 1946, Dr. Cooley joined the Army Medical Corps. He worked as the chief of surgical services in Austria. After leaving the Army in 1948, he went back to Johns Hopkins. He continued his training there and taught surgery. In 1950, he traveled to London to work with another famous surgeon, Russell Brock.
Major Achievements in Heart Surgery
In the 1950s, Dr. Cooley came back to Houston. He became a professor at Baylor College of Medicine. He also worked at The Methodist Hospital. During this time, he started working with another important heart surgeon, Michael E. DeBakey. They worked on new ways to fix aneurysms in the aorta. An aneurysm is a weak, bulging spot in the wall of a blood vessel.
In 1960, Dr. Cooley moved his practice to St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital. He still taught at Baylor. In 1962, he used private money to start The Texas Heart Institute.
Dr. Cooley was very skilled. He performed many open-heart surgeries without using blood transfusions. He did these special surgeries for Jehovah's Witnesses patients starting in the early 1960s.
Developing Artificial Heart Valves
From 1962 to 1967, Dr. Cooley and his team worked on creating new artificial heart valves. These new valves greatly improved patient outcomes. The number of deaths from heart valve transplants dropped a lot during this time.
First Artificial Heart Implant
In 1969, Dr. Cooley made history. He was the first heart surgeon to implant an artificial heart into a man named Haskell Karp. This artificial heart was designed by Domingo Liotta. Mr. Karp lived for 65 hours with the artificial heart. The next year, in 1970, Dr. Cooley performed another artificial heart implant. This was done when no human heart was available for transplant.
On March 13, 1972, a special group was formed to honor Dr. Cooley. It was called the Denton A. Cooley Cardiovascular Surgical Society. This group helps heart surgeons from all over the world share ideas. Today, over 900 heart surgeons from more than 50 countries are members.
In 2000, Dr. Cooley was asked to review the medical records of Dick Cheney. Mr. Cheney was running for Vice President at the time. Dr. Cooley looked at his heart condition.
Personal Life and Interests
Dr. Cooley had many interests outside of surgery. He loved basketball and played for the University of Texas team in college. He also enjoyed golf for many years. The basketball training center at the University of Texas is named the Denton A. Cooley Pavilion in his honor.
Dr. Cooley also played the upright bass in a swing band. The band was called The Heartbeats. He played with them from 1965 into the early 1970s.
Once, in court, a lawyer asked Dr. Cooley if he thought he was the best heart surgeon in the world. Dr. Cooley said yes. When the lawyer said that sounded a bit boastful, Dr. Cooley replied, "Perhaps. But remember I'm under oath."
Dr. Cooley and Dr. Michael E. DeBakey had a professional disagreement for over 40 years. However, they made up in 2007. Dr. Cooley passed away on November 18, 2016, at the age of 96.
Honors and Awards
- Awarded the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1968.
- Awarded the Theodore Roosevelt Award in 1980.
- Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1984. This is the highest award a civilian can receive in the U.S.
- Received the 1967 René Leriche Prize. This is the top honor from the International Surgical Society.
- Awarded the National Medal of Technology by Bill Clinton in 1998.
- He was a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
See also
In Spanish: Denton Cooley para niños
