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The relationship between Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig: connecting the historical dots

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2008

William N. Evans*
Affiliation:
Children’s Heart Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America Division of Cardiology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Nevada School of Medicine, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States of America
*
Correspondence to: William N. Evans MD, FACC. Children’s Heart Center, 3006 S. Maryland Pkwy, Ste. 690, Las Vegas, NV 89109, USA. Tel: (702) 732-1290; Fax: (702) 732-1385; E-mail: WNevans50@aol.com

Abstract

The literature has scant documentation of the relationship between the important founders of paediatric cardiology, Maude Abbott and Helen Taussig. Recently discovered entries in the diaries kept by Maude Abbott provide evidence for a close connection between them. Further evidence suggests that their association was complex, and influenced by outside factors, such as their difference in age and era-related notoriety. In this review, I attempt to define more clearly the relationship between these two early icons of paediatric cardiology.

Type
Historical Vignette
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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