Vladimir P. Demikhov, was a Russian surgeon whose pioneering work in performing organ transplants on dogs set the stage for similar operations on humans in later years. He never got recognitions as he should. He was one of the best surgeons and made a great contribution to the science specially in the field of surgery. Dr. Demikhov was the first to perform a heart transplant on a dog, in 1946. This was in the time of cold war, when America and Russia were showing of and trying to show their superiority n the field of science, medicine, as well as in other fields. This way of competition brought some good things as well as very bad ones. The bad thing is that both of the countries were most of all showing their superiority in the field of armament. In 1947, Dr. Demikhov carried out the first animal lung transplant, which was also performed on a dog; and in 1952 he conducted the first coronary bypass, on another dog. In 1954 Vladimir Demikhov shocked the world by unveiling a surgically created monstrosity: A two-headed dog. He created the creature in a lab on the outskirts of Moscow by grafting the head, shoulders, and front legs of a puppy onto the neck of a mature German shepherd.Demikhov paraded the dog before reporters from around the world. Journalists gasped as both heads simultaneously lapped at bowls of milk, and then cringed as the milk from the puppy’s head dribbled out the unconnected stump of its esophageal tube. The Soviet Union proudly boasted that the dog was proof of their nation’s medical preeminence. This is how this looked like, and this is not a sight for the fainthearted. The sight is not pretty but in the name of science lot of things have been done, and if you get to look the whole picture you’ll get to learn that some sacrifices had to be done. Now days many transplantation are done, and someone had to be the pioneer and brake the ice.
Vladimir Demikhov’s Two-headed Dog
