Bla·lock-Taus·sig operation
n : surgical correction of the tetralogy of Fallot - called also blue-baby operation Blalock, Alfred (1899-1964), and Taussig, Helen B. (1898-1986), American physicians. Blalock and Taussig were on the staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Based upon Taussig's theory that the cause of cyanosis in infants was a functional lack of oxygen, Blalock (a surgeon) developed an operation in which the pulmonary artery and a healthy systemic artery were spliced to bypass any constriction or blockage, thereby giving the lungs sufficient blood for oxygenation. The Blalock-Taussig operation was first performed in 1944; it marked the beginning of modern heart surgery.
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