The Toronto Hospital Firsts
1922 First clinical
use of insulin
1935 First clinical
use of Heparin as a blood thinner
1946 North America's
first artificial kidney
1950 World's
first regulated cardiac pacemaker
1950 First use
of hypothermia as a method of making heart surgery safer
1983 World's
first successful single lung transplant
1986 World's
first successful double lung transplant
1987 Development
and use of the Toronto Heart Valve, a new type of pig valve now used in
humans
1990 World's
first genetic test for the diagnosis of myocarditis orviral heart disease
1995 First gene
trial in Canada in patients with multiple myeloma
1997 First hospital
in Canada to perform ventricular volume reduction, in which enlarged hearts
are surgically reduced in patients suffering from congestive heart failure
Cardiac Firsts
1950 World's first
regulated cardiac pacemaker
1950 First use
of hypothermia as a method of making heart surgery possible or safer for
the patient
1956 World's
first human heart valve transplant
1962 World's
first coronary intensive care unit
1964 World's
first dual chamber pacemaker implanted in a patient
1984 The development
of balloon electric shock ablation to cure life-threatening heart arrhythmias
1985 Canada's
first successful double lung/heart transplant
1988 First use
of Ancrod, an extract from snake venom, as a blood thinner alternative
during open heart surgery
1989 The establishment
of The Centre for Cardiovascular Research
1990 The first
practical genetic test for the diagnosis of myocarditis or viral heart
disease
1990 The breaking
of the genetic code for myosin, a major structural and functional heart
protein
1993 North American
introduction of The Toronto Hospital Cardiac System, a protocol that reduces
the length of stay in intensive care by half for routine open heart surgery
1997 First hospital
in Canada to perform ventricular volume reduction, in which enlarged hearts
are surgically reduced in patients suffering
from congestive heart failure
1997 Creation
of the world's first and only publicly available complete list of
all human cardiovascular genes, in conjunction with the University of Toronto
The Toronto Hospital Foundation Launches Spring Appeal for Research Funds