[Hjalmar Maag: a Danish pioneer].
In the year 1900 a young man was on the operating table for a minor operation at the hospital in the small provincial town of Naestved. He was anaesthetized with Chloroform. After 15 minutes his pulse and respiration suddenly failed. All the usual methods of resuscitation were tried, but to no avail. Afterwards a tracheostomy and an inflation with air through the cannula were performed, also without success. The surgeon then decided to open thorax and perform direct internal heat massage. The heart was reactivated and went on working for 8 hours. Dr. Maag did not succeed in saving his patient's life, but he is rightly considered to be the first person to have revived a heart that had completely ceased to work.
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D003718:Denmark; D006323:Heart Arrest / Q000266:history*; D006501:Hepatic Encephalopathy; D049673:History, 20th Century; D013903:Thoracic Surgery / Q000266:history*