George E. Green (doctor)
George E. Green | |
|---|---|
 Green in 1964 | |
| Born | George Edward Green 18 January 1932 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Yale College, Yale Medical School |
| Occupation(s) | Cardiac surgeon, author |
| Board member of | American Board of Thoracic Surgery |
| Spouse | |
George E. Green is an American cardiac surgeon best known for pioneering and implementing the first surgical procedure of the left coronary artery bypass graft using the internal thoracic artery sutured to the left anterior descending coronary artery to bypass obstruction to the heart circulation in the late 1960s.[1] He applied these techniques in 1968 at New York University Medical Center. In 1970 he was hired to establish St. Luke's Hospital's (now Mount Sinai Morningside) cardiac surgery program in Manhattan, New York,[2] which by 1982 was seeing approximately 1,800 cases a year, the biggest program in the state. Green has lectured internationally on the topic,[3] and has written numerous reports on internal thoracic artery grafting,[4][5] as well as co-authoring Surgical Revascularization of the Heart: The Internal Thoracic Arteries.[6][7]
Early life[edit]
George E. Green was born on January 18, 1932, and raised in Brooklyn, New York, where he attended grade school and high school. He attended Yale College and graduated from Yale School of Medicine, then returned to New York to intern at Bellevue Hospital and complete a residency at Saint Vincent's Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital.[3] From 1962 to 1964 he served as a surgeon on United States Navy Reserve active duty at U.S. Naval Hospital in Camp Pendleton, California. He also completed a residency in thoracic and cardiovascular surgery from 1966 to 1968 at New York University Medical Center.[8]
Career[edit]
Green was the first cardiac surgeon to successfully perform a left coronary artery bypass graft using the internal thoracic artery[9] sutured to the left anterior descending coronary artery to bypass obstruction to the heart, in 1968.[10][11][12][3][7] At the time, many experts believed that the internal mammary artery was too small to splice into the coronary arteries. The bypass called for 20 stitches to attach the vessel.[13] "Many years ago George Green stood alone in support of the internal mammary artery as a superior conduit," Dr. John L. Ochsner of the Ochsner Clinic in New Orleans had written. "In the years since, many of us have joined his ranks."[14]
Green began working with microsurgery techniques while working as an assistant with Max Som at Beth Israel Medical Hospital Center. Som was looking for a better solution to the reconstruction of the esophagus post-cancer treatment. In order to improve on the technique, Green introduced himself to Julius H. Jacobson, who had newly arrived at the Mount Sinai Medical Center, and was the first American to publish about using a surgical microscope to anastomose the smallest blood vessels. Green was given access to Jacobson's lab and practiced the same procedure.[15][3][16]
In an excerpt from Green's "After 50 years, a personal reflection on the development of internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafting", he reported that, "Although the procedure had been prohibited at the New York University Hospital, David Tice, Director of Surgery at the affiliated New York Veterans Administration Hospital, invited me to do it there. I did the first internal thoracic artery (ITA)-left anterior descending (LAD) artery anastomosis in the United States there in February of 1968."[17][16]
In 1968 Green was a spokesman for the research team at the New York University of Medicine at the annual Clinical Congress of American College of Surgeons, sharing the outcomes of 12 patients on whom he had performed the surgery.[18][10] In 1971 he documented his research and work on "coronary artery bypass grafts for congestive heart failure; a report of experiences with 40 patients" in The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (supported in part by a grant from the National Heart and Lung Institutes of the National Institutes of Health), which was read at the 51st Annual Meeting of The American Association for Thoracic Surgery, in Atlanta, Georgia in April 1971.[19] In 1972, at the Coronary Artery Surgery Clifton Symposium, Williams Glenn, chief of surgery at Yale School of Medicine, spoke against operating on the heart's arteries, while Green gave arguments for it.[20] In 1973 Green spoke on the topic at the scientific sessions at the American Heart Association, Pennsylvania Affiliate.[21] Green served as president of the International Symposium Internal Thoracic Artery for Myocardial Revascularization in the early 1990s, and has lectured in France, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Greece, England, and Argentina, among others.[3]
Personal life[edit]
Green is married to children's book author Sheila Greenwald. They have two sons.[22]
References[edit]
- ^ Nancy Cacioppo, "Story of a Heart", The Journal News, page 17, February 15, 1971
- ^ "Mount Sinai Historical Timeline - 1846 - 2021 (Dr. George E. Green 1970)" (PDF). Mount Sinai Morningside. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "Interview with George E. Green, MD by Norma M.T. Braun, MD". Icahn. June 17, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2022.
- ^ "lnternal Mammary Artery-to-Coronary Artery Anastomosis: Three-Year Experience with 165 Patients by Dr. George E. Green". Annals Thoracic Surgery. September 3, 1972. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ^ "Medical Articles Published by GE Green". PubMed.gov. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ "Surgical Revascularization of the Heart: The Internal Thoracic Arteries by Green, Singh, and Gibbons". Kenyatta University. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ a b Peggy Eastman, "Why Women Should Try to Avoid Bypasses", The Paducah Sun, page 38, June 25, 1986
- ^ Alice Murray, "Surgeon Takes Shortcut to Relieve Heart Surgery", Daily News New York, page 506, May 30, 1982
- ^ David Zinman, "Dye Maps Paved Way for Bypass", The Paducah Sun, page 31, July 5, 1992
- ^ a b "Some Other Kinds of Heart Surgery", The Press Democrat Santa Rosa, page 4, April 20, 1969
- ^ Dolores Frederick, "His Heart Detour Great", The Pittsburgh Press, page 1, March 4, 1973
- ^ "Bypass Less Successful for Small People", Press and Sun-Bulletin, page 29, December 23, 1985
- ^ William Rice, "They Command an Arsenal That Fights For Life", Daily News in New York, page 11, January 21, 1971
- ^ "The Doctor's World; Technique Changes in Bypass Surgery by Lawrence K. Altman, M.d." New York Times. August 9, 1988. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
- ^ "Oral history interview conducted by Dr. William Stoney with Dr. George Green on May 5, 1998". Vanderbilt Library. May 5, 1998. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
- ^ a b "Demand Increases for Artery Bypass Surgery", The Boston Globe, page 115, December 10, 1972
- ^ Green, G. E.; Puskas, J. D. (September 7, 2018). "After 50 years, a personal reflection on the development of internal thoracic artery (ITA) grafting". Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery. 7 (5). Europe PMC: 644–651. doi:10.21037/acs.2018.05.14. PMC 6219954. PMID 30505749.
- ^ Delos Smith, "Microscopic Surgery Saves Heart Patients", Indianapolis News, page 3, October 16, 1968
- ^ Spencer, Frank C. (October 1971). "Coronary artery bypass grafts for congestive heart failure: A report of experiences with 40 patients pages 529-542". The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 62 (4): 529–542. doi:10.1016/S0022-5223(19)42022-9.
- ^ "Coronary Artery Surgery Clifton Symposium Topic", The Herald-News in New Jersey, page 14, May 6, 1972
- ^ "American Heart Association Underway Now", The Daily News in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, page 30, May 3, 1973
- ^ "Surgeon Takes Shortcut to Relieve Heart Surgery", Daily News, page B-50, May 30, 1982