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.

    知识扩展：

    现代心脏外科手术治疗创始人，Dr. Michael DeBakey于2008年7月11日在休斯顿Baylor College of Medicine自然死亡去，终年99岁，1908-2008。 　　

    在他职业生涯中估计进行了超过6万心脏手术。他医治的对象从早年好莱坞 著名女星Marlene Dietrich到最近的俄国总统叶里钦。像美国总统肯尼迪, Lyndon Johnson 和尼克松， 最后的伊朗国王和约旦国王King Hussein。当然， 更多的是普通病患。 　　

    在他23岁仍然是学生时代就发明了滚子泵(roller pump)，这个发明的重大意义直到20年后才被认识到 - 成为心肺机的关键部件。心肺机因为可以提供连续的血液供应才使得开心外科手术成为可能。与他的导师Alton Ochsner一起， 他们提出了吸烟和肺癌之间的强烈联系的学说。Dr. Michael DeBakey是最早进 行冠状动脉旁路(搭桥)手术创始者之一。 　

    他于1953年成功地进行了人类首次颈动脉内膜切除术(carotid endarterectomy)。他同时又是人造心脏的开创人，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)。他也是人造血管的创始人，使用涤纶人工血管代替或修补血管。在1958年，为了治疗左冠状动脉主干(LMCA)狭窄，他进行了第一个成功的冠状动脉近段的内膜剥脱术。1960年代，他和他的外科小组是最早认识到将手术记录在影片上的重要性，并做了开创性工 作。在这期间，他和另一个专家Dr. Denton Cooley一起工作。由于对后者将人 工心脏未授权就植入人体内，两人产生了严重分歧，以至几十年不说话。直到 2007年他被授予最高荣誉 - 国会金质奖(Congressional Gold Medal)时才主动 邀请Dr. Denton Cooley参加。从电视上看到，两人还是有很大隔阂。 　　他从事外科手术工作几乎没有停过，直到他去世。他几乎活到100岁，在他的领域工作了75年。叶里钦称赞他是："心脏的魔术师"。他获得过许多大奖。 2000年他被美国国会图书馆称为"Living Legend(活着的传奇)"。2008年4月23 日，布什总统亲自授予他国会金质奖(Congressional Gold Medal)。