Russell Brock, Baron Brock

For American volleyball coach, seeRussell Brock (volleyball).

The Right Honourable The Lord Brock
Born	24 October 1903
Died	3 September 1980
Nationality	British
Medical career
Profession	Surgeon
Sub-specialties	thoracic surgery
Awards	Jacksonian Prize(1935) Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh(1954) Lister Medal(1966)

Russell Claude Brock, Baron Brock(24 October 1903 – 3 September 1980) was a leading British chest and heart surgeon and one of the pioneers of modernopen-heart surgery.His achievements were recognised by aknighthoodin 1954, alife peeragein 1965, and a host of other awards.

Biography

He was born in London, 1903, the son of Herbert Brock, a master photographer, and his wife, Elvina (née Carman). He was the second of six sons and fourth of eight children. He was educated at Haselrigge Road School,Clapham,and then atChrist's Hospital,Horsham,where he later became an Almoner (governor). He enteredGuy's HospitalMedical School in 1921 at age 17 with an arts scholarship. He qualifiedLRCP(Lond.) andMRCS(Eng.) 1926, and graduatedMB,BS(Lond.) with honours and distinction in medicine, surgery, and anatomy in 1927. He was appointed demonstrator inanatomyand inpathologyat Guy's and passed the finalFRCS(Eng.) in 1929.

Brock was elected to a Rockefeller travelling fellowship and worked in the surgical department ofEvarts GrahamatSt. Louis, Missouri,1929–30. There he developed a lifelong interest inthoracic surgery.He returned to Guy's assurgical registrarand tutor in 1932 and was appointed research fellow of the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland. He won the Jacksonian prize of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1935 and was elected a Hunterian professor in 1938. Appointments included consultant thoracic surgeon to theLondon County Council,1935–46; surgeon to theMinistry of Pensionsat Roehampton Hospital, 1936–45; surgeon toGuy'sand theBromptonhospitals 1936–1968. DuringWorld War Twohe was alsothoracic surgeonand regional adviser in thoracic surgery to theEmergency Medical Servicein the Guy's region. Based on this experience, in 1946 he published a book on bronchial anatomy which became a classic.

The end of the war provided opportunities for surgeons with war experience to turn their attention to unsolved civilian problems. In 1947 Thomas Holmes Sellors (1902–1987) of theMiddlesex Hospitaloperated on aFallot's Tetralogypatient withpulmonary stenosisand successfully divided the stenosedpulmonary valve.In 1948, Brock, probably unaware of Sellor's work, used a specially designed dilator in three cases ofpulmonary stenosis.Later in 1948 he designed a punch to resect theinfundibularmusclestenosiswhich is often associated withFallot's Tetralogy.

Also in 1948 he was one of four surgeons who carried out successful operations formitral stenosisresulting from rheumatic fever.Horace Smithy(1914–1948) ofCharlotte,revived an operation due to DrElliott Cutlerof thePeter Bent Brigham Hospitalusing a punch to remove a portion of themitral valve.Charles Bailey(1910–1993) at theHahnemann Hospital,Philadelphia,Dwight HarkeninBostonand Russell Brock at Guy's all adopted the finger fracture technique first used byHenry Souttarin 1925. All these men started work independently of each other, within a few months. This latter technique was widely adopted although there were modifications. Souttar had pioneered the method in one patient and the patient did well but his physician colleagues at that time decided it was not justified and he could not continue.Together these men created an entirely new therapeutic tradition. Many thousands of these "blind" operations were performed until the introduction of heart bypass made direct surgery on valves possible.

Inspired by exchange professorships between himself and DrAlfred Blalockof Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Brock also introduced new developments, notably hypothermia and theheart-lung machine,as they emerged, enabling operations to be performed directly.

He was an outstanding diagnostician, a conscientious teacher and meticulous in the care of his patients. He was not an easy man to know well. He was strict in handling his juniors but meticulously fair and very support of those who gained his confidence. Likewise he could not tolerate slackness in those who worked with him and suffered fools badly. He was very much an individualist, found his own solutions to problems and was not always good at accepting the solutions of others.On the other hand,John Kirklinsaid that when he (Kirklin) had just performed his first operation at theMayo Clinicusing the Mayo-Gibbon oxygenator, and was about to do his second, Brock phoned, asking to come and watch. Knowing that Brock was supposed to be a difficult man with a big reputation, Kirklin offered him the chance to scrub up and stand in the theatre but he said, "No, no, no. I don't want to bother you". He sat and watched inconspicuously in the gallery.Perhaps this tells us that Brock felt that he had a mission to serve patients, did not like having precious time wasted but came humbly to learn when he sensed a master at work.

He was awarded the 1966Lister Medalfor his contributions to surgical science.The corresponding Lister Oration, given at theRoyal College of Surgeons of England,was delivered on 4 April 1967, and was titled 'Surgery and Lister'.

Brock died inGuy's Hospitalon 3 September 1980.

Services, awards and honours

Assistant editor and later editorof Guy's Hospital Reports 1939–1960.

Contributedimportant papers on cardiac and thoracic surgery to medical and surgical journals and textbooks.

Servedon the Council of theRoyal College of Surgeons of England,1949–1967, and as vice-president 1956-8 and President 1963–6, and director of department of surgical sciences established during his presidency.

DeliveredtheBradshaw Lectureat theRoyal College of Surgeonsin 1957 and theirHunterian orationin 1961.

Knighted6 July 1954

Life peerageCreatedBaron BrockofWimbledonin theLondon Borough of Mertonon 5 July 1965.

PresidentThoracic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1952; Society of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland in 1958;Medical Society of Londonin 1958.

Elected fellow:Thoracic Society of Great Britain and Ireland;Royal College of Physicians of Londonin 1965

Elected Honorary fellow:American College of Surgeons,1949; the Brazilian College, 1952; theRoyal Australasian College of Surgeons,1958; theRoyal College of Surgeons in Ireland,1965; theRoyal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada;and theRoyal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh,1966.

Awards:Julius Mickle prize of London University (1952), Fothergillian Gold Medal of theMedical Society of London(1953),Cameron Prize for Therapeutics of the University of Edinburgh(1954), Gold Medal ofSociety of Apothecaries(1955), Gold Medal of West London Medical and Chirurgical Society (1955), International Gairdner award, 1960–1, Lister medallist and orator, 1967.

Honorary degrees from universities:Hamburg(1962),Leeds(1965),Cambridge(1968),GuelphandMunich(1972).

Other interests

Outside his professional work he had considerable knowledge of old furniture and prints, and history, especially local and medical history. Less well known was his dedication to the complementary interests of private medicine and the NHS, for he served on the governing body of Private Patients Plan and was chairman (1967–77) before becoming its president.He was responsible for the discovery and restoration, on the Guy's site, of an eighteenth-century operating theatre which was formerly part of the oldSt. Thomas's Hospital

In 1927, he married Germaine Louise Ladavèze (died 1978). They had three daughters. In 1979, he married Chrissie Palmer Jones.

Arms

Coat of arms of Russell Brock, Baron Brock

Crest A brock passant Or resting the dexter forepaw on a human heart. Escutcheon Per chevron Sable and Argent in chief two brocks passant Or and in base a human heart ensigned with a mitre sans lappets Azure. Supporters Dexter a Siberian tiger statant guardant Proper, sinister a lion guardant Gules holding in the dexter paw a brock Proper.

Publications

• The Anatomy of the Bronchial Tree, with special reference to the surgery oflung abscess(Oxford University Press:London, 1946, Second edition 1954);
• The Life and Work ofAstley Cooper(E. & S. Livingstone: Edinburgh & London, 1952);
• Lung Abscess (Blackwell Scientific Publications:Oxford, 1952);
• The Anatomy ofCongenital Pulmonary Stenosis(Cassell & Co.:London, 1957);
• John KeatsandJoseph Severn,the tragedy of the last illness, 1973.

See also

Wimbledon Manor House

External links

• Portraits of Russell Brock, Baron Brockat theNational Portrait Gallery, London