The History of Blood Transfusions

MargueriteSpring 2011

“Science, my lad, is made up of mistakes, but they are mistakes which it is useful to make, because they lead little by little to the truth.”

Jules Verne

Early Theories

• Galen’s theory of the function of the heart

• Bloodletting

• Blood and personal traits

William Harvey (1578 – 1657)

• 1616: Harvey calculated that blood flows at the rate of 8640 oz/hr and discovered that blood circulates throughout the body

• Wrote Exercitatio anatomica de motu cordis et sanguinis in animalibus in which he reported his findings

• The Paris Faculty of Medicine

Jean-Baptist Denis (c. 1635 – 1704)

• In 1667, Denis performed the first human blood transfusion on a 15 year old boy

• Denis performed a second transfusion on Antoine Mauroy

• The Paris Faculty of Medicine

Years later…

• 1829 – James Bundell carried out the first human-to-human blood transfusion

• 1849 – C.H.F. Routh reviewed all blood transfusions to date and deemed that they were relatively safe.

Total blood transfusions: 48 Total fatalities: 18

• Hemolytic Reactions

Karl Landsteiner

• Identified A, B, and C blood types ( type C was later renamed type O)

• While working at the Pasture Institute, Landsteiner discovered the Rh-factor

• Won the 1930 Nobel Prize for Medicine

Works Cited

Biographies. n.d. ilab.org. Web. 26 April 2011.

Davidson, Alvin. Veins and Arteries. 1910. etc.usf.edu. Web. 19 April 2011.

De Mortu Cordis. 1639. savebloodsavelives.org. Web. 19 April 2011.

Foster, Ellsworth D. Heart. n.d. etc.usf.edu. 12 April 2011.

Gray, Henry. The Aorta. bartleby.com. 1918. Web. 26 April 2011.

La Grand Guerre. 1918. world-war-pictures.com. Web. 26 April 2011.

Learoyd, Phil. A Short History of Blood Transfusion. The National Blood Service. 2006. Web. 25 April 2011.

Riou, Édouard. n.d. jv.gilead.org.il. Web. 12 April 2011.

Works Cited

Riou, Édouard. n.d. allposters.co.uk. Web. 27 April 2011.

The Encyclopedia Britannica, New Warner Edition. Romney Marsh Breed. 1893. etc.usf.edu. Web. 19 April 2011.

Tucker, Holly. Blood Work: a tale of medicine and murder in the scientific revolution. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.

Udwadia, Farokh Erach. “William Harvey’s Discovery of Blood Circulation.” Great Medical Discoveries. Ed. Shane, C.J. Michigan: Greenhaven Press, 2004. Print.

Verne, Jules. “Journey to the Center of the Earth.”litquotes.com 2011. Web. 28 April 2011.

Woodward, Billy, Joel Shurkin, and Debra Gordon. Scientists Greater Than Einstein. California: Quill Driver Books, 2009. Print.