University of Southern California
SUMMER
TROJAN
Vof.XVM
LOS ANGELES. CALIFORNIA, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17. 1966
72
Patient s heart beats thanks to dead man's aortic valve
Thirty-one-year-old Robleigh Lindvall of Santa Ana lives with a dead man’s aortic valve in his heart.
Lindvall is the first heart patient in the Southland to have a diseased aortic valve removed surgically and replaced with living tissue.
He underwent the surgery, known as an aortic homograft, on Feb. 25 at St. Vincent’s hospital in Los Ange1^. in an operation performed by a team of surgeons from the USC School of Medicine. They are Drs. Jerome Hatold Kay, Harold K. Tsuji. and John V. Redington.
The homograft. which literally has given patient Lindvall a new lease on life, came from the body of a 48-year-old man who died from causes not related directly to the heart.
Now, six months after the surgery, Lind vail says, “I’m the healthiest specimen alive.'
Since the Lindvall operation, the USC sur geons have performed similar successful homografts on 11 other men and women with severe disease of the aortic valve, which opens and closes more than 100.000 times a day in the heart as the blood flows through it.
Lindvall. who lives at 1672 Rainbow Dr. with his wife and three children, ranging in •ige from 7 to 13. works hard as an estimator for Plumbing Contractors, Inc., one of the largest mechanical contractors in southern California.
He was born in La Habra, a fourth-gen-eiation Californian. Rheumatic fevei at age
12	damaged his heart. H gradually became worse, and then rapidly so in 1964.
On May 22 of that year he was operated upon by Dr. Kay and the L'feC surgical team for severe aortic valve stenosis with calcification.
At that time a ball-in-cage valve was inserted. However, as is the occurrence in about 20 percent of these eases, blood clots later began to form around the artificial valve. Some clots broke off and traveled by way of the blood stream to other pnrto of the bodv
In Lindvall’s case, several clots reached the brain, causing short periods of unconsciousness.
One large clot lodged in a leg artery, end this clot had to be removed surgically.
Because it was apparent that his outlook was extremely poor without removal of Lhe ball valve and insertion of living tissue, another operation had to b.1 performed.
When the homograft operation was per formed six months ago, the hall valve removed from Lindvall’s heart was covered with a large clot which would soon have endangered his life.
Lindvall was able to ieturn to work in May, three months after hi« open heart surgery.
Aortic homografts are done only in a few other places in this country, but have been quite common in England and New Zealand.
The aortic valve taken from the body of a person who has died of othei than heart disease is kept in a culture of salt water and antibiotics for up to six weeks at 40 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the same method used in storing blood.
Because it is an unspecialized mechanical tissue, an aortic valve can be transplanted from one body to another where operations to do this with kidneys and other organs may fail.
Lord Russell Brock of London, president of the Royal College ol Surgeons of Great Britain, was quoted early this year in Medical Tribune in favor of natural valve replacement.
“It is difficult to believe that the engineering workshop will ever replace nature’s,’’ he said, "and so, as policy, wc should concentrate our efforts on returning to the conservation of, or replacement by, natural valve structures.
“In comparison with natural heart valves, any machine-made valve mechanism is a crude misrepresentation of form and function, and so long as we depart from nature by so much as we do we insure failure sooner or later.*’
Eleven students participate in archeological excavation
Eleven students and a professor from USC really “dig" their ancient history.
Neither back - breaking work, nor ground-in grime, nor the burning sun in the skies above Hebron. Jordan, have dulled their enthusiasm in a major archeological pursuit.
Such is the report from the American Expedition to Hebron (AEH), largest archeological team working in the Holy Land at the present time.
AEH includes nearly 40 American students and advisors. USC’s team, under the direction of Dr. Gerald Larue. Professor of Biblical History and Archeology, is the largest 3ingle delegation in the Expedition. Dr. Larue is assistant director to the total program in Hebron, under Dr
Philip C. Hammond of Princeton Theological Seminary. This is the third year in which USC students have participated in the Hebron “dig."
Hebron, say authorities, represents the last major Biblical and historical site of importance which remains to be investigated by modem scientific and archeological means and techniques. Untouched before AEH was begun in 1964. Hebron is believed to represent the key to a number of critical Biblical and historical questions.
Among these are the background evidence necessary for the period of the Biblical patriarchs and David's rise to power and the establishment of his monarchy, and later Roman. Byzantine and Crusader occupations of the area.
Joseph E, Greene, Jr., a stu-
DR. K. WILLIAM LEFFLAND
Picked Associa+e Dean of Public Administration
Leffland named director civic center campus
dent in USC's Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Richard Bane a USC junior in Religion, have been responsible for supervision of six sites where the outer walls of a Islamic house have been uncovered.
Gordon Henry Biescar. a graduate student in Petroleum Engineering, has been working on an excavation which may clarify the extent of the Middle Bronze Age City in the “dig.”
Actual terrace exploration of existing wall lines, modern and ancient, on the entire mountain in the Hebron area is being done by USC’s Thomas O. Byerts and Mark M. Jones fourth and fifth year students, respectively, in the School of Architecture and Fine Arts,
Dr. K. William Leffland has been named Associate Dean of School of Public Administration and Director of the USC Civic Center Campus, it was announced today by Dean Henry Reining, Jr.
Dr. Leffland succeeds Dr. Desmond L. Anderson as Associate Dean. Dr. Anderson retired from the university faculty to enter politics. Dr. Alexander Cloner, Dr. Leffland’s predecessor as Civic Center Campus Director, returned to full-time faculty status.
In addition to his other administrative duties, Dr. Leffland is currently developing proposals for a number of new programs. Among these is a computer simulation labora -tory, designed to provide “real-life’’ data instantaneously for various areas of public administration training. This will be an expansion of the COMEX computer program now used in the USC Air Pollution Control Institute, of which Dr. Leffland is former director.
Dr. Leffland is a graduate of San Jose State College and took his master's and D.P.A. degrees at USC. He served in 1958 at USC as visiting assistant professor of public administration, and simultaneously held a Haynes Foundation Fellowship there.
He joined the USC faculty in 1965 following three years
as Assistant Director of Administration and Comptroller of the University of Maryland European Division. Heidelberg Germany.
Prior to that, he served for two years as Director of Education for the Third U.S. Air Force in England.
In 1959 and 1960. Dr. Leffland was assistant professor and Administrative Officer in the Oregon State System of Higher Education.
Dr. Leffland is a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Chapter of the American Society for Public Administration.
Dr. Leffland is the son of Mr. and Mrs. S. W. Leffland.
Psychology lecture scheduled today
“Cognition and Personality Types’’ will be the subject of a free public lecture by Dr. Mac Sterling, chairman of the Psychology Department at Baylor University, today at 1:15 p.m. in Founders Hall 110.
Dr. Sterling studied at Texas A and M College and the University of Kentucky. A clinical psychologist. Dr. Sterling has been associated with V.A. hospitals in Lexington. Kentucky and Waco, Texas and served as a consultant to the Children’s Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Waoo.