Medicine: Squeaky in Surgery

Famed Surgeon Alfred Blalock repaid part of the debt he owes to dogs for the use he made of them in perfecting his blue-baby operation. Squeaky, a seven-month old female Rottweiler, was suspected of having a heart defect. Examination by Blalock and Pediatrician Helen Taussig showed that the trouble was really an intestinal block from an auto accident. Decision: immediate surgery. Time for operation, performed by Surgeon Blalock, in the animal operating room of Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Hospital: 1½ hours. The patient did fine.