VCU news

By Michael Ford
University News Services

The surgeon who performed the world's first successful combined heart-lung transplant recently served as visiting professor for the annual Brooks-Lower Lecture in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Bruce A. Reitz, M.D., Norman E. Shumway professor and chair of cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford University's School of Medicine, discussed "Heart-Lung Transplantation: Lessons Learned" during an hour-long lecture at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center.

"Dr. Reitz is one of the pioneers in cardiothoracic transplantation," said Abe Deanda M.D., assistant professor, cardiothoracic surgery in the VCU School of Medicine. "Having him visit us is indeed an honor for our division, department and medical school."

Reitz's presentation, hosted by the VCU Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, included archival images, graphics and surgical photos of the historical 1981 surgery.

A cum laude graduate of Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn., Reitz completed his internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital before returning to his undergraduate alma mater, Stanford University, to complete a residency in cardiovascular surgery.

The Brooks-Lower Visiting Professorship is part of surgical grand rounds, educational lectures routinely attended by faculty physicians, residents, interns, nurses and medical students.

The Brooks-Lower lectureship is named for two outstanding retired professors from VCU's school of medicine, James W. Brooks, M.D., and Richard R. Lower, M.D.

Brooks spent 45 years as a clinician and teacher at VCU, starting back in 1956, before the Medical College of Virginia merged with Richmond Professional Institute to form VCU in 1968. Retired in 2001, he continues, as professor emeritus, with the cardiothoracic division as an invaluable resource for residents, interns and medical students.

Lower came to what was MCV in 1965 to chair cardiothoracic surgery and brought a pioneering technique called mid-atrial excision of the heart, a crucial stride toward human heart transplantation. He developed the procedure as a resident under Dr. Norman Shumway of Stanford University. In 1968, Lower performed VCU's first heart transplant - only the ninth in the U.S. and 16th such surgery worldwide. During two decades, Lower was in involved in 300 transplant procedures and guided VCU's heart transplant program, the nation's second oldest, to national prominence.