Scope - Volume 05, Number 14

              v. ers
Vol. 5, No. 14 Wednesday, December 1 ], 1968
Fetal- monitoring equipment
installed in University Hospital
A fetal- monitoring system de
signed by a 1950 School of Med
icine graduate has been install
ed in Loma Linda University
Hospital, according to Ervin E.
Nichols, MD, chairman of the
department of gynecology and
obstetrics.
The unit, first of four sched
uled to be installed in the hos
pital, was designed by Edward
H. Hon, MD, an obstetrician
with electronics training.
According to an article des
cribing Dr. Hon's work which
appears in the October 21, 1968,
issue of Newsweek magazine,
almost all of the four million
babies born in the United
States each year arrive in good
health, but some 28 thousand
others, who appear to be nor
mal infants, die in the process
of being born.
Last October, the world's
first fetal- intensive- care unit
was opened at the ' Yale- New
Haven Hospital in Connecticut.
Here the infants are kept under
the electronic vigil of the fetal-monitoring
system.
^^ Biggest threat
" The biggest threat to the
baby during delivery," accord
ing to Dr. Nichols, " is interrup
tion of the blood supply, which
deprives the brain of oxygen."
The most common causes of
such distress are defects in the
piticenta, the organ that sup
plies blood to the fetus, or com
pression of the umbilical cord,
the connecting link between the
placenta and the child, reports
Newsweek.
Usually, the physician will
try to detect any trouble by lis
tening to the fetal heartbeat by
stethoscope. If the heart rate
remains in the normal range of
120 to 160 beats a minute, the
doctor assumes that all is well.
Unfortunately, many obste
tricians agree, the stethoscope
has a limited value for detect
ing early fetal distress. It can
not pick up the heartbeat of the
unborn children during the con
tractions of the uterus during
labor. Thus, an obstetrician lis
tening to the fetal heartbeat
may find the heart rate normal
even when the child is in trou
ble.
Records heartbeat
With the help of the fetal
monitoring system, University
Hospital physicians can now re
cord the heartbeat of the un
born fetus by waiting until the
cervix has become dilated and
then clipping a half- inch silver
electrode to the flesh of the
baby's scalp.
At the same time, a plastic
tube is placed in the uterus
alongside the baby and attach
ed to a gauge to measure the
pressure of uterine contrac
tions.
T'". i? monitoring; system takt_
readings from the electrode and
pressure gauge and records its
findings on graph paper at the
mother's bedside. When the
University Hospital equipment
is complete, the readings will be
duplicated on a monitor at a
central nursing station, explains
Dr. Nichols. Eventually it will
be possible for one nurse to
monitor the heartbeats of sev
eral unborn children.
Serious changes in the heart
Continued on page 9
University inaugurates annual
alumni advancement gift plan
Loma Linda University is about to launch a new annual gift program the alum
ni advancement fund according to Charles C. Case, associate director of develop
ment and coordinator of the program.
School of Medicine Alumni Association president Floyd L. Wergeland, SM' 32, has
Refresher surgical anatomy
course scheduled in January
A refresher course in surgi
cal anatomy will be taught
by 16 outstanding medical auth
orities from the Loma Linda
University School of Medicine.
The annual Theodor Billroth
Course in Surgical Anatomy
will be presented during the
week of January 26- 29, 1969, in
Shryock Hall on the Loma Lin
da campus.
Enrollment is limited to the
first 32 applicants. Applications
may be secured by writing be
fore January 17 to the Depart
ment of Anatomy, Loma Linda
University School of Medicine,
Loma Linda 92354. A $ 150 fee
will be charged for the course.
Coordinator for the propram is
Raymond F. Tatro, MD, assis
tant clinical professor of sur
gery.
Participating lecturers are
Bruce W. Branson, MD, asso
ciate professor of surgery; Lloyd
A. Dayes, MD, assistant profes
sor of neurosurgery; Henry L.
Hadley, MD, professor of urol
ogy; Herbert W. Henken, MD,
assistant professor of anatomy.
Guy M. Hunt, MD, associate
professor of anatomy and neu
rology; Jerrold K. Longerbeam,
MD, professor of surgery; Er-vin
E. Nichols, MD, professor
of gynecology and obstetrics;
Walter H. B. Roberts, MD, as
sociate professor of anatomy;
Marshall A. Rockwell, MD, as
sociate professor of orthopedic
surgery; Howard C. Smith, MD,
instructor in anatomy.
Louis L. Smith, professor of
surgery; Dr. Tatro; William H.
Taylor, MD, assistant professor
of anatomy; Ralph J. Thomp
son, Jr., MD, associate professor
of surgery; Ellsworth E. Ware-ham,
MD, professor of surgery;
and Harold F. Ziprick, MD, pro
fessor of gynecology and ob
stetrics.
University singers
join in Disneyland
mass choir concert
Choir members from both
University campuses will per
form in the Festival Choir
which will present a candlelight
concert at Disneyland Sunday
night, December 22.
Each year 500- 800 college
students are selected to partici
pate in the mass choir program.
This is the ninth year that choir
members from Loma Linda Un-
Continued on page 8
accepted an appointment to
serve as chairman of the na
tional advisory committee for
the annual giving program. -
Dr. Wergeland, a native of
Kibbey, Monta
na, is current
ly senior vice
president for
medical affairs
at the Leisure
World Founda
tion in Laguna
Hills.
Prior to this
employment he
Dr. Wergeland was a major
general in the
United States Army serving as
. commanding general at Walter
Reed General Hospital, Wash
ington, D. C. and surgeon gen
eral for the United States Army
in Europe. He retired from the
Army in August 1964 after ser
ving more than 31 years.
The purpose of the annual
alumni advancement fund, ac
cording to Mr. Case, is to en
courage consistent, systematic
alumni support of the Univer
sity, to develop an awareness of
the importance of the alumni's
support, and to provide a frame
work within which alumni may
develop systematic patterns of
support.
" In my opinion," Dr. Werge
land says, " the evolution of the
educational systems in River-
Continued on page 11
Hartford Foundation extends
support to School of Medicine
LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL intern Frederick L. Orr, SM' 68 photographed Univer
sity Hospital at sunset recently. The view is fro m the corner of Barton Road and Anderson Street.
Medical research scientists at
Loma Linda University are en
gaged in studies which may de
velop an effective method for
the prevention and treatment
of atherosclerosis and arterio
sclerosis in man.
The investigations which
have been funded since 1963 by
The John A. Hartford Founda
tion, Inc., New York City, will
be continued for another year
under a $ 99,744 grant an
nounced jointly by the Founda
tion's president Ralph W. Bur
ger and David B. Hinshaw, MD,
dean of the School of Medicine.
This award brings the Founda
tion's support of the project to
a total of $ 593,141. The project
coordinator is Lester M. Mor-rison,
MD, president and direc
tor of the Institute for Arterio
sclerosis Research.
" Arteriosclerosis and its com
plications is now the leading
cause of death and disease hi
the United States," Dr. Morri-son
says: " No satisfactory
method of treatment for this
first cause of death and disa
bility has yet been found."
Numerous investigators have
shown that arteriosclerosis is
preceded by a subtle change in
the layer of simple cells which
line the circulatory organs.
These preliminary changes may
then predispose to lipid accum
ulations in the vessels which
are complications characteristic
of athero- and arteriosclerosis.
The origin, mode of develop
ment, and control of this athe
rosclerotic process is of- prime
interest to the researchers be
cause of its fundamental im
portance in possibly arresting,
healing, and/ or reversing the
atherosclerotic disease itself
within the arterial wall.
Preliminary findings reported
by Dr. Morrison last July indi-
Continued on page 10
Loma Linda campus
dean of men named
Donald L. Bauer assumed re
sponsibilities as dean of men on
the Lorha Linda campus follow
ing Thanksgiving vacation, ac
cording to William G. Nelson,
vice president for student af
fairs.
As the new dean of the men's
residence, Dan-iells
Hall, Mr.
Bauer succeeds
| the late Max M.
Williams who
died September
26.
The 31- year-
I old dean, who
J was born in
Curtis, Nebras-
Mr. Bauer ka, received the
bachelor of arts
degree in 1959 from Walla Wal
la College, College Place, Wash
ington, and the master of arts
Continued on page 11