Medical Dictionary
Main Entry:
Bla·lock–Taus·sig operation Pronunciation:
'blA-"läk-'tau-sig- Function:
noun : surgical correction of the tetralogy ofFallot called also
blue-baby operation Blalock, Alfred (1899–1964), and
Taussig, Helen B. (1898–1986), American physicians. Blalockand Taussig were on the staff of Johns Hopkins Hospital. Based upon Taussig's theory that the cause of cyanosis in infants was a functional lack of oxygen, Blalock (a surgeon) developed an operation inwhich the pulmonary artery and a healthy systemic artery were spliced to bypass any constriction or blockage, thereby giving the lungs sufficient blood for oxygenation. The Blalock-Taussig operationwas first performed in 1944; it marked the beginning of modern heart surgery.
