Michael DeBakey performed more than sixty thousand operations during his long career as a heart surgeon.

    His patients included American presidents John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. They also included Russian president Boris Yeltsin and the Shah of Iran.

    Doctor DeBakey died July eleventh in Houston, Texas, two months' short of his one hundredth birthday.

    As a medical student in nineteen thirty-one, he invented the roller pump. Years later it would be used for blood transfusions during heart operations.

    The roller pump became a major part of the heart-lung machine. The machine pumps oxygen-rich blood to the brain and other organs so doctors can operate on the heart.

    Michael DeBakey was a pioneer of open heart surgery, which has saved countless lives. The name means that the chest is open and surgery is performed on the heart. Doctors may or may not open the heart itself as well.

    Michael DeBakey was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, on September seventh, nineteen hundred and eight. His parents were Lebanese immigrants.

    He was always a good student. He loved to learn. As a child his mother taught him to sew. This proved helpful years later when he sewed polyester tubes into patients to perform heart bypass operations.

    He developed a way to replace or repair blood vessels with Dacron, a stretchy manmade material. He continued to improve on the process. Today the DeBakey artificial graft is used around the world.

    He was also a pioneer in artificial hearts, heart transplants and recording surgeries on film. He revolutionized medicine in the nineteen fifties and sixties.

    During World War Two he helped develop the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH.

    Michael DeBakey earned his medical degree in nineteen thirty-two from Tulane University in New Orleans.

    For years he led the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He joined the faculty in nineteen forty-eight when the school was still part of Baylor University.

    He became president of the medical college and supervised its separation from the university in nineteen sixty-nine.

    Over the years he received many awards. In April, he received Congress' highest civilian honor, the Congressional Gold Medal.

    Michael DeBakey continued his work until his death. He received a hero's burial last Friday at Arlington National Cemetery across the Potomac River from Washington.

    And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. I'm Pat Bodnar.

    知識擴展：

    現代心臟外科手術治療創始人，Dr. Michael DeBakey于2008年7月11日在休斯頓Baylor College of Medicine自然死亡去，終年99歲，1908-2008。 　　

    在他職業生涯中估計進行了超過6萬心臟手術。他醫治的對象從早年好萊塢 著名女星Marlene Dietrich到最近的俄國總統葉里欽。像美國總統肯尼迪, Lyndon Johnson 和尼克松， 最后的伊朗國王和約旦國王King Hussein。當然， 更多的是普通病患。 　　

    在他23歲仍然是學生時代就發明了滾子泵(roller pump)，這個發明的重大意義直到20年后才被認識到 - 成為心肺機的關鍵部件。心肺機因為可以提供連續的血液供應才使得開心外科手術成為可能。與他的導師Alton Ochsner一起， 他們提出了吸煙和肺癌之間的強烈聯系的學說。Dr. Michael DeBakey是最早進 行冠狀動脈旁路(搭橋)手術創始者之一。 　

    他于1953年成功地進行了人類首次頸動脈內膜切除術(carotid endarterectomy)。他同時又是人造心臟的開創人，他在一位病人身上首次成功 使用外接的左心室旁路泵(left ventricular bypass pump)。他也是人造血管的創始人，使用滌綸人工血管代替或修補血管。在1958年，為了治療左冠狀動脈主干(LMCA)狹窄，他進行了第一個成功的冠狀動脈近段的內膜剝脫術。1960年代，他和他的外科小組是最早認識到將手術記錄在影片上的重要性，并做了開創性工 作。在這期間，他和另一個專家Dr. Denton Cooley一起工作。由于對后者將人 工心臟未授權就植入人體內，兩人產生了嚴重分歧，以至幾十年不說話。直到 2007年他被授予最高榮譽 - 國會金質獎(Congressional Gold Medal)時才主動 邀請Dr. Denton Cooley參加。從電視上看到，兩人還是有很大隔閡。 　　他從事外科手術工作幾乎沒有停過，直到他去世。他幾乎活到100歲，在他的領域工作了75年。葉里欽稱贊他是："心臟的魔術師"。他獲得過許多大獎。 2000年他被美國國會圖書館稱為"Living Legend(活著的傳奇)"。2008年4月23 日，布什總統親自授予他國會金質獎(Congressional Gold Medal)。