Award of the Heart

"Until the work of these two men, there was just no way of dealing with a heart emergency."

That was the tribute paid to Drs. William Kouwenhoven of Johns Hopkins University and Paul Zoll of Harvard Medical School by Heart Surgeon Michael DeBakey, chairman of the jury that last week selected them as winners of the annual Albert Lasker research awards.-- The two researchers were chosen for their development of techniques and devices that save or prolong more than 150,000 lives a year. Between them, they have made it possible to control a variety of heart rhythm disorders, to restart a stopped heart, and to convert a faulty pulse into a steady beat.

So Simple. Kouwenhoven, now 87, drifted into heart research almost by accident. In 1928, after 14 years at Johns Hopkins as an electrical engineer, he was asked by New York's Consolidated Edison Co. to help reduce electric shock fatalities among telephone linemen and the public. His work led him into medical research, and by 1933 he had proved that electrical shock could stop ventricular fibrillation--an often-fatal uncoordinated fluttering of the heart's pumping muscles. Kouwenhoven went on to develop the techniques: opening the chest, placing electrodes directly on the heart, and applying a brief jolt of electricity. Later, while experimenting with a nonsurgical method that involved placing the electrodes on the chest, he noticed that pressing down on the chest increased the patient's blood pressure. That observation led him to develop the revolutionary heart-starting technique known as CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation. CPR consists of hard pressure on the lower breastbone 60 to 70 times a minute (to force blood out of the heart) alternating with mouth-to-mouth ventilation. "It's so simple," says Kouwenhoven, who has taught CPR to thousands of police, firemen, Boy Scouts, ambulance drivers and civilians. "You don't need anything but your two hands and your mouth." Agrees Zoll: "It's true. He's a great man--a real pioneer."

Kouwenhoven, whose wife is now using her third pacemaker, feels the same about Zoll, 62, who invented the device. The battery-powered pacemaker, which is implanted under the skin of the chest, emits tiny electrical impulses to stimulate the heartbeat. It is currently keeping some 90,000 Americans alive. Although batteries must be replaced every 18 to 36 months, requiring surgery each time, long-lasting nuclear-powered units have been developed and may soon be generally available (TIME, April 23). With Zoll at the awards ceremony last week was Mrs. Jeanne Rogers, 37, who is the first woman to give birth while using a pacemaker. She has had eight or ten replacements since her first pacemaker eleven years ago ("You kind of lose track after a while"), and regularly goes partying, dancing and bowling. Mrs. Rogers may well be Zoll's most ardent fan. "Dr. Zoll," she said at the ceremony, "I love you."

*A gold statuette of the Winged Victory of Samothrace and $10,000.

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