The 1950s

Willem Kolff, MD, PhD, joins Cleveland Clinic, where he establishes a dialysis program and develops a membrane oxygenator for bypass surgery as well as the first artificial heart.

George Phalen, MD, creates a diagnostic test for carpal tunnel syndrome.

A new hospital wing doubles the number of beds.

The Board of Governors, composed of elected physicians and scientists, ushers in a new era of leadership. Pictured (from left) are James Gardner, MD; E. Perry McCullagh, MD; Walter J. Zeiter, MD; Irvine Page, MD; Fay LeFevre, MD; George “Barney” Crile Jr., MD; A. Carlton Ernstene, MD; and William Engel, MD. Dr. LeFevre serves as Chairman from 1955 to 1968.

A new surgical pavilion opens on the second floor of the hospital, including 21 operating rooms and one large setup room.

Dr. Crile, who pioneers alternatives to radical mastectomy for treating breast cancer, publishes Cancer and Common Sense. The book makes a case for conservative treatments for cancer.

Cleveland Clinic performs its first stopped-heart surgery. Pictured: the surgical team.

Cleveland Clinic researchers synthesize angiotensin II, a hormone that regulates blood pressure, leading to the development of hypertension drugs.

F. Mason Sones, MD, pioneers moving cine coronary angiography, a method for viewing the heart and its vessels. 

Irvine Page, MD, and Helen Brown, PhD, demonstrate the relationship between animal fats and cardiovascular disease.