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    History and Headlines
    You are at:Home»April»April 4»April 4, 1969: Texas Surgeon Implants First Artificial Heart!
    April 4

    April 4, 1969: Texas Surgeon Implants First Artificial Heart!

    Major DanBy Major DanApril 4, 2016Updated:March 4, 202033 Comments3 Mins Read
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    A Brief History

    On April 4, 1969, Dr. Denton Cooley performed surgery to implant the first artificial (temporary) heart in history!

    Digging Deeper

    Dr. Cooley was a renowned heart surgeon and founder of the Texas Heart Institute.

    Having worked with Dr. Michael DeBakey (another renowned heart surgeon that invented the pump that makes heart surgery possible), Cooley was part of the team that performed the first heart transplant in the United States as well as his artificial heart work.  He also pioneered techniques using artificial heart valves which reduced mortality in heart valve replacement surgery from 70% to 8%!

    Unfortunately, Cooley had a falling out with DeBakey and the two giants of heart surgery did not reconcile until Cooley was 87 and DeBakey was 99 (2007)!

    Never one to practice false modesty, Cooley once was asked by an attorney in court if Cooley was the best heart surgeon in the world, which of course Cooley responded to with a yes, saying, “Remember, I’m under oath!”  Cooley also once said his greatest contribution to heart surgery was his invention of packaged pricing!

    Cooley was so good at heart surgery he was able to perform numerous surgeries on Jehovah’s Witness members that refused to allow transfusions!  Cooley has also authored 12 books and over a thousand medical articles and has been given many awards, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Cooley was called upon by future President George W. Bush to review Dick Cheney’s heart health for suitability as vice president!  Cooley suffered bankruptcy in 1988 despite his stature as perhaps the premier heart surgeon in the country if not the world!

    Cooley is depicted in the HBO movie Something The Lord Made about heart surgery pioneers (especially Vivien Thomas, an African-American).  Despite extending the lives of many patients with heart transplants, Cooley was actually criticized by many people who felt “brain dead” was not “real dead” and that removing a still beating heart from a person was immoral whether he was brain dead or not.  Question for students (and subscribers): Do you think removing a beating heart is moral or immoral?  Please let us know in the comments section below this article.

    If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!

    Your readership is much appreciated!

    Historical Evidence

    For more information, please see…

    Cooley, Denton A.  100,000 Hearts: A Surgeon’s Memoir.  Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin, 2012.

    Cooley, Denton A.  Reflections and Observations: Essays of Denton A. Cooley : Collected by Marianne Kneipp.  Eakin Pr, 1984.

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    Major Dan
    Major Dan

      Major Dan is a retired veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He served during the Cold War and has traveled to many countries around the world. Prior to his military service, he graduated from Cleveland State University, having majored in sociology. Following his military service, he worked as a police officer eventually earning the rank of captain prior to his retirement.

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      <span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1674 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=1674">33 Comments

      1. Avatar
        DAVID WARDLE on April 17, 2015 6:42 am

        Science and technology have always fascinated me! — DAVID WARDLE

        Reply
      2. Avatar
        Samantha Easterling on April 17, 2015 1:31 pm

        Amazing how they come up with stuff like this

        Reply
      3. Avatar
        Natalie Sholtis on April 20, 2015 1:59 pm

        I love articles like this! It’s so fascinating that we have the knowledge and technology. I am thankful those who work hard to become our doctors, nurses, and surgeons.

        Reply
      4. Avatar
        Mike Rinicella on April 22, 2015 5:09 pm

        This is amazing, especially with the time period because they didn’t have as much technology as we do now.

        Reply
      5. Avatar
        Heather H on April 23, 2015 9:46 am

        What a tremendous break through in medical technology

        Reply
      6. Avatar
        Samantha Easterlig on April 24, 2015 9:58 am

        Absolutely amazing

        Reply
      7. Avatar
        Alex Guthrie on April 27, 2015 9:06 am

        If a person is brain dead and their heart could help someone else I would say it is moral.

        Reply
      8. Avatar
        Anthony Jasany on May 3, 2015 10:34 pm

        Science keeps getting more and more impressive

        Reply
      9. Avatar
        Jake Woolf on May 6, 2015 12:53 pm

        Now, onward to the same without needing antirejection drugs!

        Reply
      10. Avatar
        ryan C on March 7, 2016 2:44 pm

        thats why you always give life chances. If he never would of tried the artificial heart that patient wouldnt of lived them extra three days until she got the real heart transplant.

        Reply
      11. Avatar
        rpugliese16 on April 6, 2016 12:03 pm

        What a busy life, authoring 12 books along with being a heart surgeon…

        Reply
      12. Avatar
        Y A on April 11, 2016 4:56 pm

        Dr. Cooley have had used his value very well. When someone is multitask, we as a society and the government should take care of these types of people because they are beneficial for the society. We also should focus on his children or family because their might be someone who heredite from his skill to benefit the country and the world.

        Reply
      13. Avatar
        kk on April 21, 2016 2:37 pm

        He seems like a great person that has influenced on history. Crazy what he has done and how many books he has written.

        Reply
      14. Avatar
        SW on April 26, 2016 10:59 pm

        I don’t really think that removing a beating heart is considered immoral if the person is a organ donor and considered brain dead. The person made the decision when they were living and obviously were okay with the process when they decided to be an organ donor.

        Reply
      15. Avatar
        Kamarin R on May 7, 2016 1:46 pm

        It sounds like Cooley put his talents as a surgeon to good use.

        Reply
      16. Avatar
        Andy frick on May 8, 2016 3:44 pm

        If the person was an organ donor and was brain dead, I don’t think it was immoral.

        Reply
      17. Avatar
        APG on May 9, 2016 6:53 pm

        A person as valuable to science as this guy was deserves to be a millionaire, not freaking bankrupt. Plus, if a person is brain dead, they’re basically in purgatory, it seems necessary to end their suffering so to speak.

        Reply
      18. Avatar
        Dakota A rinier on May 10, 2016 6:57 am

        This a amazing accomplishment and I think this is completely fine

        Reply
      19. Avatar
        CJ on May 10, 2016 11:39 pm

        As long as it advances the technology to better the world, it is perfectly fine.

        Reply
      20. Avatar
        Isaac Talley on May 11, 2016 3:30 pm

        Cooley saved so many lives with his advancements yet went bankrupt. He was cocky but he could back up his claims. He became like a celebrity in the Surgeon World.

        Reply
      21. Avatar
        BV on May 12, 2016 5:43 pm

        This is the future for us and I’m glad that it’s a positive look on this. Advancement in technology is continuing everyday. Remember to be an organ donor! Don’t let your organs go to waste!

        Reply
      22. Avatar
        Nikos Nacopoulos on August 18, 2016 10:52 am

        What an amazing medical discovery. It is crazy to think that we were able to create artificial organs that worked.

        Reply
      23. Avatar
        Montel Lollis on November 22, 2016 9:56 am

        Wow what an amzing guy! Good build confidence also.

        Reply
      24. Avatar
        Maxwell McCullough on November 30, 2016 12:49 pm

        I gotta admit this is pretty cool! shame they had a falling out though.

        Reply
      25. Avatar
        Nicholas Hillyer on December 6, 2016 9:19 pm

        It’s amazing to see what medicine can do now. Sadly though medicines failure rate is 100%.

        Reply
      26. Avatar
        Courtney G on December 10, 2016 4:00 pm

        It’s a shame to see he went bankrupt, who knows what he would have accomplished.

        Reply
      27. Avatar
        Jessica May on December 13, 2016 5:25 pm

        Wow I thought this was a recent invention

        Reply
      28. Avatar
        Drew N on December 16, 2016 9:18 am

        Pretty cool invention and i thought this was more recent

        Reply
      29. Avatar
        Mackenzie H on February 17, 2017 10:53 pm

        Dr. Cooley was a pretty cool man. He saved a lot of lives.

        Reply
      30. Avatar
        MIA on April 28, 2017 9:32 am

        I always thought this was a recent invention! Interesting.

        Reply
      31. Avatar
        Amanda Miller on April 28, 2017 11:44 pm

        This article is very interesting to me as my major is nursing. I also had 2 open heart surgeries and my most recent surgery I had an artificial valve put in. It’s one of the best artificial valves that’s out there called the On-x valve.

        Reply
      32. Avatar
        Michael Tovissi on May 1, 2017 12:07 am

        Dr. Cooley saved a lot of lives. It’s amazing how heart transplants can save lives even if it’s not their original hearts.

        Reply
      33. Avatar
        Payton Brown on May 3, 2017 4:14 pm

        I don’t see the point in keeping a person alive with no brain activity. Better to use their organs to save others in my opinion.

        Reply

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