Russell Claude Brock, Baron Brock (24 October 1903 – 3 September 1980) was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modern open-heart surgery. His achievements were recognised by a

Knighthood A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the ...

in 1954, a

Life Peerage In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...

in 1965, and a host of other awards.

Biography

He was born in London, 1903, the son of Herbert Brock, a master photographer, and his wife, Elvina (née Carman). He was the second of six sons and fourth of eight children. He was educated at Haselrigge Road School,

Clapham Clapham () is a suburb in south west London, England, lying mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, but with some areas (most notably Clapham Common) extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. History Early history ...

, and then at

Christ's Hospital Christ's Hospital is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 11–18) with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. ...

, Horsham, where he later became an Almoner (governor). He entered

Guy's Hospital Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre. ...

Medical School in 1921 at age 17 with an arts scholarship. He qualified LRCP (Lond.) and MRCS (Eng.) 1926, and graduated MB, BS (Lond.) with honours and distinction in medicine, surgery, and anatomy in 1927. He was appointed demonstrator in

anatomy Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...

and in

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

at Guy's and passed the final

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an intercollegiate basis by the four Royal Colleges of Surgeons (the Royal ...

(Eng.) in 1929. Dictionary of National Biography(2004-8)

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, 5 September 1980, page 14 Brock was elected to a Rockefeller travelling fellowship and worked in the surgical department of Evarts Graham at

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

, 1929–30. There he developed a lifelong interest in

thoracic surgery Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal stru ...

. He returned to Guy's as surgical registrar and tutor in 1932 and was appointed research fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He won the Jacksonian prize of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1935 and was elected a Hunterian professor in 1938. Appointments included consultant thoracic surgeon to the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...

, 1935–46; surgeon to the

Ministry of Pensions Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian ...

at Roehampton Hospital, 1936–45; surgeon to Guy's and the Brompton hospitals 1936–1968. During

World War Two World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

he was also

thoracic surgeon Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity — generally treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease), lungs (lung disease), and other pleural or mediastinal struc ...

and regional adviser in thoracic surgery to the

Emergency Medical Service Emergency medical services (EMS), also known as ambulance services or paramedic services, are emergency services that provide urgent pre-hospital treatment and stabilisation for serious illness and injuries and transport to definitive care. ...

in the Guy's region. Based on this experience, in 1946 he published a book on bronchial anatomy which became a classic. The end of the war provided opportunities for surgeons with war experience to turn their attention to unsolved civilian problems. In 1947 Thomas Holmes Sellors (1902–1987) of the

Middlesex Hospital Middlesex Hospital was a teaching hospital located in the Fitzrovia area of London, England. First opened as the Middlesex Infirmary in 1745 on Windmill Street, it was moved in 1757 to Mortimer Street where it remained until it was finally clos ...

operated on a

Fallot's Tetralogy 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 ...

patient with

pulmonary stenosis Pulmonic stenosis, is a dynamic or fixed obstruction of flow from the right ventricle of the heart to the pulmonary artery. It is usually first diagnosed in childhood. Signs and symptoms Cause Pulmonic stenosis is usually due to isolated valvula ...

and successfully divided the stenosed

pulmonary valve The pulmonary valve (sometimes referred to as the pulmonic valve) is a valve of the heart that lies between the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery and has three cusps. It is one of the four valves of the heart and one of the two semilunar v ...

. In 1948, Brock, probably unaware of Sellor's work, used a specially designed dilator in three cases of

. Later in 1948 he designed a punch to resect the

infundibular An infundibulum (Latin for ''funnel''; plural, ''infundibula'') is a funnel-shaped cavity or organ. Anatomy * Brain: the pituitary stalk, also known as the ''infundibulum'' and ''infundibular stalk'', is the connection between the hypothalamus and ...

muscle stenosis which is often associated with

.Harold Ellis (2000) A History of Surgery, page 223+ Also in 1948 he was one of four surgeons who carried out successful operations for

mitral stenosis Mitral stenosis is a valvular heart disease characterized by the narrowing of the opening of the mitral valve of the heart. It is almost always caused by rheumatic valvular heart disease. Normally, the mitral valve is about 5 cm2 during d ...

resulting from rheumatic fever. Horace Smithy (1914–1948) of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, revived an operation due to Dr

Elliott Cutler Elliot Carr Cutler (July 30, 1888 – August 16, 1947) was an American surgeon, military physician, and medical educator. He was Moseley Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, surgeon-in-chief at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital from 1932 t ...

of the

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts General Hospital, it is one of the two f ...

using a punch to remove a portion of the mitral valve. Charles Bailey (1910–1993) at the Hahnemann Hospital,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

Dwight Harken Dwight Emary Harken (1910–1993) was an American surgeon. He was an innovator in heart surgery and introduced the concept of the intensive care unit. Life Dwight Harken was born in Osceola, Iowa. He received his Bachelor's and Medical degrees f ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

and Russell Brock at Guy's all adopted the finger fracture technique first used by

Henry Souttar Sir Henry Sessions Souttar (14 December 1875 – 12 November 1964) was a British surgeon with a wide breadth of interests. He trained first as a mathematician and engineer. His engineer’s training enabled him to design and make new types of s ...

in 1925. All these men started work independently of each other, within a few months. This latter technique was widely adopted although there were modifications. Souttar had pioneered the method in one patient and the patient did well but his physician colleagues at that time decided it was not justified and he could not continue. Together these men created an entirely new therapeutic tradition. Many thousands of these "blind" operations were performed until the introduction of heart bypass made direct surgery on valves possible. Inspired by exchange professorships between himself and Dr

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 h ...

of Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Brock also introduced new developments, notably hypothermia and the

heart-lung machine Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a technique in which a machine temporarily takes over the function of the heart and lungs during surgery, maintaining the circulation of blood and oxygen to the body. The CPB pump itself is often referred to as a ...

, as they emerged, enabling operations to be performed directly. He was an outstanding diagnostician, a conscientious teacher and meticulous in the care of his patients. He was not an easy man to know well. He was strict in handling his juniors but meticulously fair and very support of those who gained his confidence. Likewise he could not tolerate slackness in those who worked with him and suffered fools badly. He was very much an individualist, found his own solutions to problems and was not always good at accepting the solutions of others. On the other hand, John Kirklin said that when he (Kirklin) had just performed his first operation at the Mayo Clinic using the Mayo-Gibbon oxygenator, and was about to do his second, Brock phoned, asking to come and watch. Knowing that Brock was supposed to be a difficult man with a big reputation, Kirklin offered him the chance to scrub up and stand in the theatre but he said, "No, no, no. I don't want to bother you". He sat and watched inconspicuously in the gallery. Perhaps this tells us that Brock felt that he had a mission to serve patients, did not like having precious time wasted but came humbly to learn when he sensed a master at work. He was awarded the 1966

Lister Medal __NOTOC__ The Lister Medal is an award presented by the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of contributions to surgical science. It is named after the English surgeon Joseph Lister (1827-1912), whose work on antiseptics establi ...

for his contributions to surgical science. The corresponding Lister Oration, given at the

Royal College of Surgeons of England The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS England) is an independent professional body and registered charity that promotes and advances standards of surgical care for patients, and regulates surgery and dentistry in England and Wales. T ...

, was delivered on 4 April 1967, and was titled 'Surgery and Lister'. Brock died in Guy's Hospital on 3 September 1980.

Services, awards and honours

Assistant editor and later editor of Guy's Hospital Reports 1939–1960. Contributed important papers on cardiac and thoracic surgery to medical and surgical journals and textbooks. Served on the Council of the

, 1949–1967, and as vice-president 1956-8 and President 1963–6, and director of department of surgical sciences established during his presidency. Delivered the

Bradshaw Lecture The Bradshaw Lectures are prestigious lectureships given at the invitation of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons of England. List of past lecturers at Royal College of Physicians List of past lecturers at Royal Co ...

at the

Royal College of Surgeons The Royal College of Surgeons is an ancient college (a form of corporation) established in England to regulate the activity of surgeons. Derivative organisations survive in many present and former members of the Commonwealth. These organisations a ...

in 1957 and their

Hunterian oration The Hunterian Oration is a lecture of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The oration was founded in 1813 by the executors of the will of pioneering surgeon John Hunter, his nephew Dr Matthew Baillie and his brother-in-law Sir Everard Hom ...

in 1961. Knighted 6 July 1954 Life peerage Created Baron Brock ''of

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in the

London Borough of Merton The London Borough of Merton () is a borough in Southwest London, England. The borough was formed under the London Government Act 1963 in 1965 by the merger of the Municipal Borough of Mitcham, the Municipal Borough of Wimbledon and the Merton ...

'' on 5 July 1965. President Thoracic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1952; Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland in 1958 ;

Medical Society of London The Medical Society of London is one of the oldest surviving medical societies (being organisations of voluntary association, rather than regulation or training) in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1773 by the Quaker physician and philanthro ...

in 1958. Elected fellow: Thoracic Society of Great Britain and Ireland;

Royal College of Physicians of London The Royal College of Physicians (RCP) is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of physicians by examination. Founded by royal charter from King Henry VIII in 1 ...

in 1965 Elected Honorary fellow: American College of Surgeons, 1949; the Brazilian College, 1952; the

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is the leading advocate for surgical standards, professionalism and surgical education in Australia and New Zealand. Known by its common acronym RACS, it is a not-for-profit organisation, sup ...

, 1958; the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, 1965; the

Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (french: Collège royal des médecins et chirurgiens du Canada) is a regulatory college which acts as a national, Non-profit organization, nonprofit organization established in 1929 by a speci ...

; and the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

, 1966. Awards: Julius Mickle prize of London University (1952), Fothergillian Gold Medal of the

(1953), Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh (1954), Gold Medal of Society of Apothecaries (1955), Gold Medal of West London Medical and Chirurgical Society (1955), International Gairdner award, 1960–1, Lister medallist and orator, 1967. Honorary degrees from universities:

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

(1962),

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

(1965),

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

(1968),

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as "The Royal City", Guelph is roughly east of Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Highway 6, Highway 7 and Wel ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

(1972).

Other interests

Outside his professional work he had considerable knowledge of old furniture and prints, and history, especially local and medical history. Less well known was his dedication to the complementary interests of private medicine and the NHS, for he served on the governing body of Private Patients Plan and was chairman (1967–77) before becoming its president. He was responsible for the discovery and restoration, on the Guy's site, of an eighteenth-century operating theatre which was formerly part of the old St. Thomas's HospitalHistory and opening times of Museum: http://www.thegarret.org.uk/oot.htm In 1927, he married Germaine Louise Ladavèze (died 1978). They had three daughters. In 1979, he married Chrissie Palmer Jones.

Arms

Publications

* The Anatomy of the Bronchial Tree, with special reference to the surgery of

lung abscess Lung abscess is a type of liquefactive necrosis of the lung tissue and formation of cavities (more than 2 cm) containing necrotic debris or fluid caused by microbial infection. This pus-filled cavity is often caused by aspiration, which ma ...

(

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

: London, 1946, Second edition 1954); * The Life and Work of

Astley Cooper Sir Astley Paston Cooper, 1st Baronet (23 August 176812 February 1841) was a British surgeon and anatomist, who made contributions to otology, vascular surgery, the anatomy and pathology of the mammary glands and testicles, and the patholog ...

(E. & S. Livingstone: Edinburgh & London, 1952); * Lung Abscess ( Blackwell Scientific Publications: Oxford, 1952); * The Anatomy of Congenital Pulmonary Stenosis ( Cassell & Co.: London, 1957); * John Keats and Joseph Severn, the tragedy of the last illness, 1973.

References