A Tribute to Dr Willem J. Kolff: Innovative Inventor, Physician, Scientist, Bioengineer, Mentor, and Significant Contributor to Modern Cardiovascular Surgical and Anesthetic Practice

摘要

DR WILLEM JOHAN KOLFF, shown in Fig 1, the inventor of the artificial kidney and renal dialysis, the artificial heart (AH), transmembrane oxygenation of blood, and numerous other medical devices, techniques, and concepts, and generally recognized as the "Father of Artificial Organs," died of "natural causes" at the age of 97 on February 11, 2009, in a Philadelphia care center. Some senior members of the specialty may remember that Dr Kolff, Pirn to his friends and associates, was part of a team of physicians, scientists, and bioengineers that made worldwide headlines on December 2, 1982, by implanting the world's first permanent total AH (TAH) into Seattle dentist Dr Barney Clark at the University of Utah (U of U) Medical Center. Others, especially younger physicians in practice and those still in training, may have read or heard his name mentioned with regard to the invention of the intra-aortic balloon pump (IABP) or intracardiac injection of potassium citrate to transiently stop the beating heart during cardiac surgery.Few in the specialty appreciate the magnitude and breadth of Dr Kolff s multiple contributions to medicine and their impact on anesthesiology.