William Rashkind

Last updated
William J. Rashkind
BornFebruary 12, 1922
DiedJuly 6, 1986(1986-07-06) (aged 64)
Education University of Louisville School of Medicine
Known for Atrial septostomy
Scientific career
Fields Pediatric cardiology
Institutions Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

William J. Rashkind (February 12, 1922 - July 6, 1986) was an American cardiologist. Rashkind worked at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is best known for his contributions to the treatment of congenital heart defects. He introduced the Rashkind balloon atrial septostomy to treat transposition of the great vessels.

Biography

Rashkind was born in Paterson, New Jersey, and he attended the University of Louisville School of Medicine. [1] He was a physician at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. [2]

He is best known for the balloon septostomy procedure. In this technique, a cardiologist feeds a catheter into the heart of a patient with transposition of the great vessels. This catheter is advanced into the patient's right atrium, across a flap known as the patent foramen ovale (PFO) and into the patient's left atrium. There is a balloon on the end of the catheter. The balloon is inflated and then pulled back across the PFO, creating a hole in the heart through which oxygenated and deoxygenated blood can mix. [3] Rashkind introduced his balloon septostomy procedure in 1966. [4]

In May of that year, LIFE Magazine profiled Rashkind and described his procedure on a young boy named Bobby. The procedure had required only local anesthesia and the patient's color improved immediately thereafter. [4] Describing the medical community's response to the Rashkind procedure, pediatric cardiologist Charles Mullins later said, "The initial response to this report varied between admiration and horror but, in either case, the procedure stirred the imagination of the 'invasive' cardiologists throughout the entire cardiology world and set the stage for all future intracardiac interventional procedures – the true beginning of pediatric and adult interventional cardiology." [5]

Writing about Rashkind's balloon innovation, pediatric cardiologist Jacqueline Noonan said that Rashkind could legitimately be referred to as "the father of interventional pediatric cardiology." [6] In 1986, Rashkind died of cancer at home in Marion, Pennsylvania. [7]

Related Research Articles

Cardiology Branch of medicine dealing with the heart

Cardiology is a branch of medicine that deals with the disorders of the heart as well as some parts of the circulatory system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in this field of medicine are called cardiologists, a specialty of internal medicine. Pediatric cardiologists are pediatricians who specialize in cardiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiac surgery are called cardiothoracic surgeons or cardiac surgeons, a specialty of general surgery.

Coronary catheterization Radiography of heart and blood vessels

A coronary catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure to access the coronary circulation and blood filled chambers of the heart using a catheter. It is performed for both diagnostic and interventional (treatment) purposes.

dextro-Transposition of the great arteries Medical condition

dextro-Transposition of the great arteries, is a potentially life-threatening birth defect in the large arteries of the heart. The primary arteries are transposed.

Atrial septal defect Human Heart defect present at birth

Atrial septal defect (ASD) is a congenital heart defect in which blood flows between the atria of the heart. Some flow is a normal condition both pre-birth and immediately post-birth via the foramen ovale; however, when this does not naturally close after birth it is referred to as a patent (open) foramen ovale (PFO). It is common in patients with a congenital atrial septal aneurysm (ASA).

Interventional cardiology

Interventional cardiology is a branch of cardiology that deals specifically with the catheter based treatment of structural heart diseases. Andreas Gruentzig is considered the father of interventional cardiology after the development of angioplasty by interventional radiologist Charles Dotter.

Fontan procedure

The Fontan procedure or Fontan–Kreutzer procedure is a palliative surgical procedure used in children with univentricular hearts. It involves diverting the venous blood from the inferior vena cava (IVC) and superior vena cava (SVC) to the pulmonary arteries without passing through the morphologic right ventricle; i.e., the systemic and pulmonary circulations are placed in series with the functional single ventricle. The procedure was initially performed in 1968 by Francis Fontan and Eugene Baudet from Bordeaux, France, published in 1971, simultaneously described in 1971 by Guillermo Kreutzer from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and finally published in 1973.

Cardiac catheterization

Cardiac catheterization is the insertion of a catheter into a chamber or vessel of the heart. This is done both for diagnostic and interventional purposes.

Transposition of the great vessels Group of congenital heart defects involving an abnormal spatial arrangement of any of the great vessels: superior and/or inferior venae cavae, pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins, and aorta

Transposition of the great vessels (TGV) is a group of congenital heart defects involving an abnormal spatial arrangement of any of the great vessels: superior and/or inferior venae cavae, pulmonary artery, pulmonary veins, and aorta. Congenital heart diseases involving only the primary arteries belong to a sub-group called transposition of the great arteries (TGA), which is considered the most common congenital heart lesion that presents in neonates.

Cath lab

A catheterization laboratory, commonly referred to as a cath lab, is an examination room in a hospital or clinic with diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualize the arteries of the heart and the chambers of the heart and treat any stenosis or abnormality found.

Balloon septostomy Medical procedure

Balloon septostomy is the widening of a foramen ovale, patent foramen ovale (PFO), or atrial septal defect (ASD) via cardiac catheterization using a balloon catheter. This procedure allows a greater amount of oxygenated blood to enter the systemic circulation in some cases of cyanotic congenital heart defect (CHD).

Percutaneous coronary intervention Medical techniques used to manage coronary occlusion

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to treat narrowing of the coronary arteries of the heart found in coronary artery disease. The process involves combining coronary angioplasty with stenting, which is the insertion of a permanent wire-meshed tube that is either drug eluting (DES) or composed of bare metal (BMS). The stent delivery balloon from the angioplasty catheter is inflated with media to force contact between the struts of the stent and the vessel wall, thus widening the blood vessel diameter. After accessing the blood stream through the femoral or radial artery, the procedure uses coronary catheterization to visualise the blood vessels on X-ray imaging. After this, an interventional cardiologist can perform a coronary angioplasty, using a balloon catheter in which a deflated balloon is advanced into the obstructed artery and inflated to relieve the narrowing; certain devices such as stents can be deployed to keep the blood vessel open. Various other procedures can also be performed.

Arterial switch operation

Arterial switch operation (ASO) or arterial switch, is an open heart surgical procedure used to correct dextro-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA); its development was pioneered by Canadian cardiac surgeon William Mustard and it was named for Brazilian cardiac surgeon Adib Jatene, who was the first to use it successfully. It was the first method of d-TGA repair to be attempted, but the last to be put into regular use because of technological limitations at the time of its conception.

Foramen secundum

The foramen secundum, or ostium secundum is a foramen in the septum primum, a precursor to the interatrial septum of the human heart.

The history of invasive and interventional cardiology is complex, with multiple groups working independently on similar technologies. Invasive and interventional cardiology is currently closely associated with cardiologists, though the development and most of its early research and procedures were performed by diagnostic and interventional radiologists.

Lutembachers syndrome Medical condition

Lutembacher's syndrome is a very rare form of congenital heart disease that affects one of the chambers of the heart as well as a valve. It is commonly known as both congenital atrial septal defect (ASD) and acquired mitral stenosis (MS). Congenital atrial septal defect refers to a hole being in the septum or wall that separates the two atria; this condition is usually seen in fetuses and infants. Mitral stenosis refers to mitral valve leaflets sticking to each other making the opening for blood to pass from the atrium to the ventricles very small. With the valve being so small, blood has difficulty passing from the left atrium into the left ventricle. Septal defects that may occur with Lutembacher's syndrome include: Ostium primum atrial septal defect or ostium secundum which is more prevalent.

Atrial septostomy Surgical procedure on the heart

Atrial septostomy is a surgical procedure in which a small hole is created between the upper two chambers of the heart, the atria. This procedure is primarily used to palliate dextro-Transposition of the great arteries or d-TGA, a life-threatening cyanotic congenital heart defect seen in infants. It is performed prior to an arterial switch operation. Atrial septostomy has also seen limited use as a surgical treatment for pulmonary hypertension. The first atrial septostomy was developed by Vivien Thomas in a canine model and performed in humans by Alfred Blalock. The Rashkind balloon procedure, a common atrial septostomy technique, was developed in 1966 by American cardiologist William Rashkind at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cardiology, the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the human heart. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiology are called cardiologists.

Hybrid cardiac surgery

A hybrid cardiac surgical procedure in a narrow sense is defined as a procedure that combines a conventional, more invasive surgical part with an interventional part, using some sort of catheter-based procedure guided by fluoroscopy imaging in a hybrid operating room (OR) without interruption. The hybrid technique has a reduced risk of surgical complications and has shown decreased recovery time. It can be used to treat numerous heart diseases and conditions and with the increasing complexity of each case, the hybrid surgical technique is becoming more common.

Barry A. Love M.D. is a cardiologist specializing in pediatric and congenital heart problems.

Charles E. Mullins is a retired pediatric cardiologist who practiced at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital. He is known for advancing cardiac catheterization techniques to treat congenital heart defects, and has been referred to as the father of modern interventional pediatric cardiology.

References

  1. Wagner, Henry (1992). "Bill Rashkind's contribution to pediatric cardiology". Transposition of the Great Arteries 25 years after Rashkind Balloon Septostomy. Springer Publishing. pp. 1–4. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-72472-5_1. ISBN   978-3-7985-0895-8.
  2. "Transposition of the great arteries". Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. 2014-03-15. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  3. Abdulla, Ra-id (March 24, 2011). Heart Diseases in Children: A Pediatrician's Guide. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 75. ISBN   978-1-4419-7994-0 . Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  4. 1 2 "Balloon to save a baby". LIFE . May 27, 1966. Retrieved April 25, 2015.
  5. Boehm, W.; Emmel, M.; Sreeram, N. (2006). "Balloon atrial septostomy: History and technique". Images in Paediatric Cardiology. 8 (1): 8–14. PMC   3232558 . PMID   22368660.
  6. Noonan, Jacqueline (2004). "A history of pediatric specialties: The development of pediatric cardiology". Pediatric Research . 56 (2): 298–306. doi: 10.1203/01.PDR.0000132662.73362.96 . PMID   15181186.
  7. "In memoriam". AAP News. 2 (8): 21. August 1, 1986. Retrieved April 25, 2015.