Eileen Saxon, sometimes referred to as "The Blue Baby", was the patient in an operation that ushered in the modern era of cardiac surgery. She had a condition called

Tetralogy of Fallot Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF), formerly known as Steno-Fallot tetralogy, is a congenital heart defect characterized by four specific cardiac defects. Classically, the four defects are: *pulmonary stenosis, which is narrowing of the exit from the ri ...

, one of the primary congenital defects that lead to

blue baby syndrome Blue baby syndrome can refer to conditions that cause cyanosis, or blueness of the skin, in babies as a result of low oxygen levels in the blood. This term has traditionally been applied to cyanosis as a result of: #Cyanotic heart disease, whi ...

. In this condition, defects in the great vessels and wall of the heart lead to a chronic lack of

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as wel ...

in the blood. In Eileen's case, this made her lips and fingers turn blue, with the rest of her skin having a very faint blue tinge. She could only take a few steps before beginning to breathe heavily. On November 29, 1944, Saxon was the first living human to receive a groundbreaking operation. (now known as a Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt) suggested by

pediatric Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...

cardiologist Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hear ...

Helen B. Taussig Helen Brooke Taussig (May 24, 1898 – May 20, 1986) was an American cardiologist, working in Baltimore and Boston, who founded the field of pediatric cardiology. She is credited with developing the concept for a procedure that would extend the l ...

and administered by

Alfred Blalock Alfred Blalock (April 5, 1899 – September 15, 1964) was an American surgeon most noted for his work on the medical condition of shock as well as Tetralogy of Fallot— commonly known as Blue baby syndrome. He created, with assistance from hi ...

, with

Vivien Thomas Vivien Theodore Thomas (August 29, 1910 – November 26, 1985) was an American laboratory supervisor who developed a procedure used to treat blue baby syndrome (now known as cyanotic heart disease) in the 1940s. He was the assistant to surgeon A ...

, who had perfected the surgery in laboratory tests on animals, standing over his shoulder to advise him on performing the surgery."That First Operation"
, Johns Hopkins Medical The surgery had been designed and first performed on laboratory dogs by Thomas, who taught the technique to Blalock. Although Thomas perfected the technique, he could not perform the surgery because he was not a doctor. The surgery was not completely successful, since Eileen Saxon became

cyanotic Cyanosis is the change of body tissue color to a bluish-purple hue as a result of having decreased amounts of oxygen bound to the hemoglobin in the red blood cells of the capillary bed. Body tissues that show cyanosis are usually in locations ...

again a few months later. Another shunt was attempted on the opposite side of the chest, but she died a few days afterwards, very close to her second birthday. Though Saxon died, she lived long enough to demonstrate that the operation would work. The team later discovered the operation worked best in older children. Saxon herself could not have waited any longer. By the time the first shunt was attempted on her, she was in danger of dying. The 2004 movie produced by

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

, ''

Something The Lord Made ''Something the Lord Made'' is a 2004 American television film, made-for-television biographical film, biographical drama (film and television), drama film about the black cardiac pioneer Vivien Thomas (1910–1985) and his complex and volatile pa ...

'', is a dramatic documentary based on the Saxon baby operation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saxon, Eileen 1942 births 1945 deaths Cardiac surgery American children Child deaths