Taken during the first U.S. heart transplant at the Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York.. Because it was then difficult to use heart-lung bypass machines with very small patients, Kantrowitz used controlled hypothermia--lowering the body temperature well below normal--to slow the metabolism and circulation, thus avoiding tissue and brain damage during the operation. Anesthetized patients were gradually cooled down in ice water prior to the operation, then gradually warmed back to normal afterward.
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