Russian Physiologist Sergey Bryukhonenko (1890–1960) and his Contribution to the Development of Artificial Circulation

Sergey P. Glyantsev ¹, Pavel M. Bogopolsky ²

¹ A.N. Bakulev NMRCCS, Moscow, Russia; ² B.V. Petrovsky NRCS, Moscow, Russia;

Date, time and location: 2018.05.26 08:30, Exhibition area, 1st Floor. Zone – D

Abstract

Objective.The beginning of the use of artificial circulation in cardiac surgery is usually associated with John Gibbon (1903–1973) who made the first successfully heart surgery with a complete cardiac bypass. However, long before him, the idea of using this method for cardiac surgery was expressed in 1928 by the Russian physiologist Sergei Bryukhonenko (1890–1960).
Methods.The archival documents and Bryuhonenko’s scientific publications were used.

Results. In 1924 Bryukhonenko invented the original device (called an autojector) with two diaphragm pumps to maintain the head of a dog alive for a long time by perfusion perfusion of its brain through carotid arteries. The device provided continuous extracorporeal blood flow with constant pressure and temperature. Oxygenation was provided by isolated lungs of another dog. In 1927–1928 Bryukhonenko conducted a series of experiments in dogs with a temporary (reversible) cardiac arrest in conditions of complete cardiac bypass. The results of these experiments, published in 1928 in Russian and French, allowed Bryukhonenko to express an idea of ​​using the method for surgical interventions on a stopped heart for the first time. Later Bryuhonenko did not engage in cardiac surgery, trying to solve the problem of revitalization of warm-blooded animals and humans after the onset of death, but the surgeon Nikolai Terebinsky realized his idea in experiments on dogs. In 1929–1937 Terebinsky conducted a series of operations on the fibrillating heart of a dog under conditions of carotid-coronary perfusion with the help of the Bryukhonenko apparatus, and in 1940 Terebinsky published a monograph in which he described the results of these experiments.

Conclusions. Thus thanks to the works of Bryukhonenko and Terebinsky in the 1920s and 1930s a methodological basis for the development of a new scientific and practical direction in medicine – cardiac surgery was created.