Fonds 0094 - Dr. W.G. Bigelow fonds

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Title proper

Dr. W.G. Bigelow fonds

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  • Textual record

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  • Source of title proper: Title based on contents of fonds.

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Fonds

Reference code

CA ON00343 0094

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Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1932-1993 (Creation)
    Creator
    Bigelow, W. G. (Wilfred Gordon)

Physical description area

Physical description

10 m of textual records.

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Archival description area

Name of creator

(1913-2005)

Biographical history

Dr. Wilfred Gordon Bigelow was born June 18, 1913 in Brandon, Manitoba, and died in Toronto on March 27, 2005. He was the son of Grace Ann Carnegie Gordon Bigelow and Dr. Wilfred Abram Bigelow. Dr. W.A. Bigelow (1879-1966) was a general practitioner and surgeon, a charter member of the American College of Surgeons (1913), and the founder of the first private medical clinic in Canada, in Brandon, 1913.

Dr. W.G. Bigelow was educated at Brandon Collegiate, Brentwood College in Victoria, B.C., Brandon College (1931), and the University of Toronto (B.A. 1935, M.D. 1938, M.S. 1938). His post-graduate medical/surgical training included surgical residencies under Dr. W.E. Gallie at the Toronto General Hospital (TGH), 1938-1941, and a Research Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, 1946-47, where he trained in vascular and cardiac surgery under Dr. Richard Bing and Dr. Alfred Blalock, the founder of modern cardiac surgery.

In July 1941 Dr. Bigelow married Margaret Ruth Jennings, then Assistant Head Nurse at TGH. During the Second World War Dr. Bigelow served in the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (R.C.M.A.C.) Field Transfusion Unit, 1941-42, and then as Graded Surgeon with the 6th Canadian Casualty Clearing Station (a mobile army surgical hospital) in England, Normandy and Northwestern Europe, 1942-45.

Following the war, and the completion of his research fellowship at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Bigelow returned to Toronto and was appointed to the surgical staff at TGH in 1947, and as Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Toronto in 1948. In 1953 he was appointed Head, 3rd Division General Surgery at TGH. From 1956 until his retirement in 1977 Dr. Bigelow served as Head of the Cardiovascular Surgery Division at TGH, and from 1947 to 1977 as Director of the Cardiovascular Laboratory in the Banting Research Institute, where he and his colleagues and research assistants conducted pioneering research in hypothermia, hibernation, and cardiac pacemaker technology.

In addition to his TGH and University of Toronto appointments, Dr. Bigelow served on the surgical staff of Sunnybrook Hospital and as Consultant in Cardiovascular Surgery to Women's College Hospital. Dr. Bigelow's post-retirement appointments include positions as Professor Emeritus of Surgery at the University of Toronto, and as Consulting Surgeon at TGH. From 1977 to 1979 Dr. Bigelow served as Executive Director of the Toronto General Hospital Foundation.

Throughout his career Dr. Bigelow has made numerous important contributions to medical science in general, and to the development of cardiac surgery and the treatment of heart disease in particular. In 1949 he performed only the second mitral commissurotomy operation in Canada, pioneering what would become a standard closed-heart surgical procedure throughout the 1950s. In the 1950s Dr. Bigelow was one of only two or three surgeons to adopt the Internal Mammary Artery Implantation (or Vineberg) operation. His extensive practice in this procedure and corollary clinical research proved the operation's effectiveness, as documented in a paper he and his colleagues presented at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery meeting in 1962 and published the following year. This prompted general acceptance of the Vineberg procedure and led ultimately to the development of modern aorto-coronary bypass surgery.

In 1951, in collaboration with Dr. J.C. Callaghan, and Dr. J.A. Hopps of the National Research Council of Canada, Dr. Bigelow developed and tested the first artificial cardiac pacemaker for human use. Their design, as reported in a paper published that year, formed the basis for subsequent technological developments and refinements leading to the modern implantable cardiac pacemaker.

Between 1947 and 1965, in collaboration with research associates at the Cardiovascular Laboratory in the Banting Research Institute, Dr. Bigelow performed a series of experiments to establish the physiological effects, medical benefits, and a safe technique for inducing and reversing human hypothermia. This work made possible the first open-heart surgery in humans, in 1953, and formed the practical and theoretical basis for what has become the standard practice of protective cooling of the heart during surgery.

Between 1952 and 1956 Dr. Bigelow worked to initiate the planning and secured funding for construction of the TGH Cardiovascular Investigative Unit. The Unit opened in 1956 and facilitated the efficient processing of heart catheterizations, a critical process for the diagnosis of heart disease. In 1956 Dr. Bigelow developed and assumed the direction of the TGH Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, one of the first open-heart surgery teams in Canada.

In 1958 Dr. Bigelow lobbied for and directed the opening of the TGH Cardiovascular Surgery Unit, streamlining cardiac surgery and post-operative care at the hospital. Also in 1958, Dr. Bigelow helped to organize the first Canadian inter-hospital training program in cardiovascular surgery (combining the staff and facilities of TGH, Toronto Western Hospital, and St. Michael's Hospital). Between 1958 and Dr. Bigelow's retirement in 1977, approximately seventy surgeons passed through this program.

As an academic surgeon and clinical scientist Dr. Bigelow has published voluminously, with over 120 papers in various medical/scientific journals. Articles of particular significance include "General Hypothermia for Experimental Intracardiac Surgery" (with J.C. Callaghan and J.A. Hopps), 1950, a revolutionary report of preliminary research into the use of hypothermia to protect the heart during surgery; "An Electrical Artificial Pacemaker for Standstill of the Heart" (with J.C. Callaghan), 1951, describing the first artificial pacemaker for human use; and "Internal Mammary Artery Implantation for Coronary Heart Disease" (with H. Basian and G.A. Trusler), 1963, an important clinical vindication of the effectiveness of the Vineberg operation.

Following his retirement from active surgery in 1977 Dr. Bigelow concentrated on writing medical history, publishing Cold Hearts: The Story of Hypothermia and the Pacemaker in Heart Surgery (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1984), for which he won the Hannah Medal, presented by the Royal Society of Canada, 1986, and Mysterious Heparin: The Key to Open Heart Surgery (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1990). Dr. Bigelow also edited his father's memoirs for publication: W.A. Bigelow, Forceps, Fin & Feather (Altona, Man.: D.W. Friesen & Sons, 1969).

Throughout his career Dr. Bigelow had been in great demand as a lecturer. He delivered the Hunterian Society Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England (1965), the second John Keith Lecture to the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (1968), the Moynihan Lecture to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England (1968), the Henry Jackson Lecture to the New England Cardiovascular Society (1970), the Charles Mickle Lecture at the University of Toronto (1974), the thirteenth John H. Gibbon Jr. Lecture to the American College of Surgeons (1983), and the Convocation Address at the University of Toronto (1992).

Dr. Bigelow had consistently been distinguished as an executive member of numerous medical societies, including the Canadian Federation of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons (President 1967); the James IV Association of Surgeons (Board of Directors 1967); the Society for Vascular Surgery (President 1968-69); the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (Vice President 1969, President 1970-72); the International Cardiovascular Society (Vice President 1956, 1971); the American Association for Thoracic Surgery (President 1974); and the Ontario and Canadian Heart Foundations (Board of Directors, from 1970).

He had been an active member of the American College of Surgeons, the American Heart Association, the American Surgical Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Central Surgical Association, the Society of University Surgeons, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario; an honorary member of the Ontario Medical Association, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Canadian Society of Cardiovascular Surgeons; a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada; and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of England.

Dr. Bigelow also served on several important medical-scientific boards and committees, including the Subcommittee on Cardiology, Public Health Research Advisory Committee of the Department of National Health and Welfare (Canada), 1962-65; the Surgical Research Assessment Group, Medical Research Council of the National Research Council of Canada, 1967-68; the Subcommittee on Highly Specialized Services, Ontario Council of Health, Ontario Department of Health, 1967; and the Defence Research Board of Canada, 1967-72.

Among the many awards and honours conferred on Dr. Bigelow in the course of his career are included the Lister Prize and Peters Prize, University of Toronto, 1949; the Gairdner Foundation Award, 1959; the Centennial Medal, 1967; the Charles Mickle Fellowship, University of Toronto, 1973; the National Heart Foundation of Canada Award of Merit and Queen's Medal, 1977; the City of Toronto Award of Merit, 1978; an Honorary Dr. Med.degree, Hamburg, 1990; the Commemorative Medal on the 125th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation, 1992; a D.Sc. (honoris causa) degree, University of Toronto, 1992; and the Starr Medal, presented by the Canadian Medical Association, 1992. In May 1960 Dr. Bigelow was accorded the honour of participating in the 27th All-Union Congress of Surgeons of the U.S.S.R. in Moscow. In 1981 he was invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada.

In addition to his professional medical and scientific interests, Dr. Bigelow maintained an abiding interest in and involvement with nature and the cause of environmental conservation, as an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and angler. He had served as the Chairman (1985-87) and member of the Board of Trustees (1980-90) of the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

Custodial history

The textual records comprising the Dr. W.G. Bigelow fonds were created, collected and maintained by Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow and were donated by him to the Archives in August 1994 as Accession no. 0094.

Scope and content

The Dr. W.G. Bigelow fonds consists of 21 series of textual records documenting the life and work of the pioneering Canadian heart surgeon, medical researcher, and co-developer of the cardiac pacemaker, Dr. Wilfred G. Bigelow:

0094-1 Appointment books
0094-2 Medical textbooks
0094-3 Case histories
0094-4 Medical conference programs
0094-5 Patient/surgery lists
0094-6 General patient files
0094-7 Correspondence
0094-8 Experimental and clinical research files
0094-9 Lectures and speeches
0094-10 Diagnoses and procedures
0094-11 Medical research grants-in-aid
0094-12 Professional Societies, Associations and Committees
0094-13 Toronto General Hospital files
0094-14 Medical insurance accounts
0094-15 University of Toronto files
0094-16 Medical journal publications
0094-17 Meetings
0094-18 Japanese publications on hypothermia research
0094-19 Travel files
0094-20 Medical office expenses
0094-21 Income tax returns

Collectively, the materials comprising this fonds illustrate virtually every aspect of Dr. Bigelow's personal and professional life as a surgeon and hospital division head, academic instructor and researcher, clinical investigator, author, lecturer, medical conference presenter and panellist, and member of numerous medical societies and medical/scientific committees.

In particular the fonds provides information about Dr. Bigelow's contributions to the advancement of cardiac surgery and the treatment of heart disease, especially his central accomplishments in contributing to the innovation and development of the surgical use of hypothermia in open-heart surgery and the electrical artificial cardiac pacemaker.

Notes area

Physical condition

Immediate source of acquisition

Materials donated by Dr. W.G. Bigelow in August 1994.

Arrangement

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    Script of material

      Language and script note

      Most of the material in this fonds is in English. Series 0094-16 includes some material in Russian and French, and Series 0094-18 includes some material in Japanese and French.

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      Restrictions on access

      Some files are restricted for 120 years from date of creation, to ensure compliance with Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA). In cases where the individual has died, if earlier than the 120 year restriction, the restriction period is for 50 years from proven date of death. To request access to these items, please submit an application to UHN’s Research Ethics Board using the appropriate online forms and procedures. Please see series and sub-series descriptions and file lists for further details.

      Some files are restricted for 100 years from date of creation due to personal non-health information. To request access to these items, please follow procedures outlined in UHN Administrative Policy 1.30.008, Access to Archival Records. Please see series and sub-series descriptions and file lists for further details.

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      Further accruals not expected.

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      Description record identifier

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      University Health Network Archives

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      Status

      Final

      Level of detail

      Full

      Dates of creation, revision and deletion

      Last updated: May 21, 2014. Added to Archeion May 21, 2014.

      Language of description

      • English

      Script of description

        Sources

        Accession area