People with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome often experience recurrent infections caused by problems with the immune system, and some develop autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and Graves disease in which the immune system attacks the body's own tissues and organs.
Rene Favaloro; Performed First Bypass Surgery. Rene Favaloro, 77, Argentine surgeon who pioneered coronary bypass surgery. In 1967, Favaloro performed the first bypass operation on a 51-year-old woman at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, using a saphenous vein taken from the patient's leg to detour blood around blockages in her heart.
Pioneers of Heart Surgery. For most of history, the human heart has been regarded as an organ too delicate to tamper with. But daring and innovative doctors from WWII onward, aided by advances such as the heart-lung machine and immuno-suppressant drugs, have ushered in a new era of heart transplants and open-heart surgery. Battlefront injuries gave new urgency to the need to develop better surgical techniques.