PRAISES FOR DOCTOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21784, 25 October 1932, Page 5

PRAISES FOR DOCTOR

"HEROIC OPERATION" \ MASSAGING THE HEART. Having described the circumstances in which he massaged the heart of a man Who turned " a poor colour " while under an anesthetic, a London doctor was highly praised by the Paddington coroner, Mr Ingleby Oddie. The doctor requested that his name should not be disclosed. The coroner inquired into the death of Mr Stuart Keats Turner, aged 32, of Moira, Leicestershire, son of the late Sir John Turner, of Donißthorpe, LeicesterEvidence was given by Mr John Stanley Turner that he,accompanied his brother, who was to have four teeth out, to London. Other teeth had been similarly extracted a week before by the same dentist. His brother had had uo illness recently and no trouble with his heart. The doctor, who explained that he had administered. 50,000. anesthetics without one death, stated that he had given Mr Turner gas, oxygen, and tehyl chloride simultaneously on two occasions. Mr Turner Avas more nervous the second time. He was not an easy case. "I started, the anesthetic, stated the doctor, "and two minutes afterwards, when the dentist waß about to begin, I noticed Mr Turner was a poor colour, which suggested heart failure. After about 10 seconds, when there was no improvement. I put him'down on the floor. He was still breathing, and I injected camphor, continued artificial respiration, and, after about 10 minutes, I thought the only thing to do was to massage the heart, and continued for half an hour." The coroner: That was an heroic thing to do. Had you done it before? Witness: No. I had seen it done. The doctor added that he opened the abdomen and got hold of the heart, but it did not respond, and the pulse had gone. "It is the only case I know," the doctor declared, "of the heart to fail before respiration." When the doctor said that he had administered anesthetics in more than 50,000 cases without mishap, the coroner remarked: "That is a wonderful record. I congratulate you on the bold step you took in massaging the heart. It was the only chance, I suppose?" The doctor: I think so.

Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the eminent pathologist, who made a post mortem examination, stated that Mr Turner's heart was markedly enlarged. Death was due to syncope. ' ' The'coroner: It was a fine piece ot worn of the doctor who massaged the heart under those conditions? Sir Bernard: Yes.—On the floor especially?—Not the easiest conditions under which to work.' The coroner, summing up, said that no blame could be attributed to the anaesthetist, who was a very experienced man. The doctor wisely performed artificial respiration and, " finding things were desperate, he performed an heroic operation by opening the abdomen there and then on the floor of the surgery and proceeding to massage the. heart. " By that time," the coroner continued, " that was the only thing that might have saved life. Everything else had failed, and the heart had stopped." The operation of massaging the heart, concluded the coroner, was generally regarded as a major operation, but without hesitation the doctor had done it. The coroner recorded a verdict of " Death by misadventure."