Pathologists at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital have led the way to a number of advances in understanding the cardiovascular system at the cellular level and thus have helped patients worldwide in many ways. For example, they

• Invented one of the first systems for grading the degree of tissue rejection in transplanted hearts, a system now used worldwide.
• Developed a technique for washing the blood that collects in the heart-lung machine during heart operations. This “saved” blood can then be given back to patients, often sparing them from blood transfusions.
• Discovered the cause of, and later the cure for, some heart diseases. For instance, THI pathologists learned that a condition called cardiomyopathy was caused by certain medicines that weakened the heart muscle. When patients stopped taking these medicines, the heart muscle returned to normal.
• Founded one of the first blood banks in the Houston area at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital.

The Research section of this website provides more detail.

Updated March 2008