Medical milestones, landmark publications, and notable births and deaths associated with August 7.

Events

1951 – Achille Mario Dogliòtti (1897-1966) performed the first reported successful human operation using total extracorporeal blood circulation, employing a mechanical heart–lung apparatus. This operation preceded the widespread clinical adoption of extracorporeal circulation that followed John Gibbon’s landmark open-heart surgery in 1953.

1963 – Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, son of U.S. President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, was born prematurely and developed neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (hyaline membrane disease) shortly after birth. The highly publicised case helped thrust RDS, surfactant therapy and newborn intensive care into national focus.

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Births

No major medical milestones added for this date yet — this page is being expanded

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Deaths

1974 – Virginia Apgar (1909-1974), American anesthesiologist; designed the APGAR scoring system for newborns (1953)

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Further reading

• Dogliotti AM, Costantini A. Primo caso di applicazione all’uomo di un apparecchio di circolazione sanguigna extracorporea [First case of the human use of an apparatus for extracorporeal blood circulation]. Minerva Chir. 1951 Nov 15;6(22):657-9.
• Hallman M, Herting E. Historical perspective on surfactant therapy: Transforming hyaline membrane disease to respiratory distress syndrome. Semin Fetal Neonatal Med. 2023 Dec;28(6):101493.

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