Houston-The man who is often affectionately referred to as the father of modern cardiovascular surgery passed away quietly Friday July 11th at a Houston Texas Hospital at the age of 99.
While the cause of death is not yet being released, Dr. DeBakey did undergo heart surgery in 2006, and it is believed that he passed from causes related to old age.
Dr. DeBakey had a distinguished 70 year career in heart surgery, and he was known for his innovation and teaching methods.
He was loved and respected in the field, and he is directly responsible for the training of thousands of heart surgeons, either directly or by schools that he helped establish and oversee.
Dr. DeBakey performed the first bypass heart operation that has saved thousands of lives since its first inception.
In 1950 Dr. DeBakey fashioned a graft to use on faulty heart aorta by sewing Dacron together using a common sewing machine. The Dacron graft is now used around the world on diseased arteries.
The first successful blockage of a neck artery was done by Dr. DeBakey, known as an endarterectomy, as well as a number of other types of pioneering surgery.
Dr. Debakey is survived by his wife of 33 years, former German Film Actress Katrin Fehlbaber, a daughter Olga Katarina DeBakey, and two sons Denis and Michael Jr.