Blalock–Hanlon procedure

{{short description|Surgical procedure involving the heart}}

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The Blalock–Hanlon procedure was created by Alfred Blalock and C. Rollins Hanlon. It was described in 1950.{{cite book|author1=Catherine A. Neill|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8zJZLXDQM6UC&pg=PA61|title=The developing heart: a 'history' of pediatric cardiology|author2=Edward B. Clark|date=28 February 1995|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-7923-3375-3|pages=61–|access-date=21 June 2011}} Alfred Blalock was an American surgeon most known for his work on the Blue Baby syndrome.{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Cooper |first=David Y. |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1200085 |entry=Blalock, Alfred |date=2000 |publisher=Oxford University Press |encyclopedia=American National Biography}} C. Rollins Hanlon was also an American surgeon but was best known for his work in cardiology.{{Cite book|last=Stoney|first=William S. |title=Pioneers of cardiac surgery |date=2008 |publisher=Vanderbilt University Press |isbn=978-0-8265-9243-9 |edition=1st |location=Nashville |oclc=823170308}} The procedure that these two men created, known as the Blalock–Hanlon procedure, was a new concept termed atrial septectomy. This procedure had been experimented on the right atrium of dogs before Dr. Blalock and Dr. Hanlon had performed it on humans.{{Cite journal|last=Konstantinov|first=Igor E|last2=Alexi-Meskishvili|first2=Vladimir V|last3=Williams|first3=William G|last4=Freedom|first4=Robert M|last5=Van Praagh|first5=Richard|date=June 2004|title=Atrial switch operation: past, present, and future |journal=The Annals of Thoracic Surgery|language=en|volume=77|issue=6|pages=2250–2258|doi=10.1016/j.athoracsur.2003.10.018 |doi-access=free}}

It involves the intentional creation of a septal defect in order to alter the flow of oxygenated blood. It was devised as a palliative correction for transposition of the great vessels.

The Blalock–Hanlon procedure was a cardiothoracic procedure created in the 1950s. The Blalock–Hanlon procedure was created to enhance intracardiac combinations.{{Cite journal|last=Behrendt|first=Douglas M.|last2=Kirsh|first2=Marvin M.|last3=Orringer|first3=Mark B.|last4=Perry|first4=Burton|last5=Sigmann|first5=Joan|last6=Stern|first6=Aaron|last7=Sloan|first7=Herbert|date=October 1975|title=The Blalock-Hanlon Procedure |journal=The Annals of Thoracic Surgery|language=en|volume=20|issue=4|pages=424–432|doi=10.1016/S0003-4975(10)64240-3 |doi-access=free |format=PDF}} A majority of the surgeries using this procedure were performed in pediatrics on infants ranging from one day to five months of age. Of all the children who had this surgery, only one had to undergo a second operation to repair damage not fixed during the Blalock–Hanlon procedure.{{Cite journal|last=Cohen|first=David J.|last2=Chopra|first2=Paramjeet S.|date=October 1987|title=The Blalock-Hanlon Operation: An Anachronism? |journal=The Annals of Thoracic Surgery|language=en|volume=44|issue=4|pages=407–410|doi=10.1016/S0003-4975(10)63802-7 |doi-access=free |format=PDF}} According to Behrendt, Orringer, and Stern, there were only ten early deaths out of the forty-eight children the operation was performed on. The deaths were of children that were less than one month old due to extensive measures taken during the operation.

The procedure also had a relatively high mortality rate of only twenty-one percent while it was performed however, because of the excessive mortality rate it is no longer used in today's medical society. This procedure was a combination of two circulations (Pulmonary and Systematic). Due to the intracardiac mixing, the procedure can cause postoperative arrhythmias, cerebral thrombosis, adhesions develops in the pericardial space, and many infants will face death between the septectomy.