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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1997;113:812
© 1997 Mosby, Inc.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES |
In 1924 he became professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin, where he remained for two years. Finally in 1926 he was appointed professor of surgery at the University of Illinois, a position he held at the time of his untimely death in 1934.
In 1918 Hedblom, who had been commissioned major in the medical corps, received orders to France. Before he could leave, however, the armistice was signed and the orders were canceled.
In 1924, while still at the Mayo Clinic, Hedblom was president of the The American Association for Thoracic Surgery at the early age of 46 years. His presidential address reflects his important involvement in the developing specialty of thoracic surgery. High on his list were the problems of chronic empyema and its treatment by closed drainage and irrigation. Of comparable importance was the challenge of pulmonary suppuration—if central, bronchiectasis; if peripheral, lung abscess. For bronchiectasis, Hedblom inclined toward staged collapse therapy and was quite conservative when it came to resection. For lung abscess, he advocated early drainage after a short period of supportive care and operation staged if necessary to ensure pleurodesis.
He was an early advocate of collapse therapy for pulmonary tuberculosis, particularly staged thoracoplasty, following close on the heels of Archibald of Montreal and, of course, Sauerbruch and Brauer abroad. His strategy was to provide selective rest to facilitate cavity closure in the infected lung. Evarts Graham believed that Hedblom's most important contribution to thoracic surgery was probably his pioneering work in making thoracoplasty a multiple-stage operation. As Heblom made clear, staging allowed adequate time to bring the patient into optimal condition while lessening the intensity of each procedure.
In 1924, when Hedblom talked of thoracic tumors, he referred chiefly to relatively benign processes. Carcinoma of the lung was low on his list. In keeping with the times, he had one successful esophageal resection to his credit.
In a final summing up in The Journal of Thoracic Surgery, Graham wrote, "After seeing Hedblom operate one always felt that the work had been well done and that the patient's interests had been the object of chief consideration... . He inspired the utmost confidence in his patients and colleagues from the standpoint of his thoroughgoing honesty and conscientiousness. He was dignified, modest, unassuming and had no trace of pretense....He had a charming smile and a hearty laugh which captivated everyone because it radiated his innate kindliness and charity... . He enjoyed travel and good literature, but nothing was allowed to interfere with his work." To this warm appraisal, Hedblom's oldest son adds that his father's family ties were warm and close, not subordinate to his professional career.
In late May 1934, at the Boston meeting of the AATS, he delivered a classic paper titled "The Results of Extrapleural Thoracoplasty in the Treatment of Pulmonary Tuberculosis." It might be considered an apologia for his life. To his colleagues he appeared his usual hearty, indestructible self. To his son, however, then a sophomore at Harvard College, he seemed unduly tired, not well. He went on to a meeting of the American Surgical Association in Toronto. The following week, on the evening of their annual dinner, he had a devastating myocardial infarction. He died two days later.
He was 54—in full flight.
J. Gordon Scannell, MD
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