September 11, 1945: Dr. Willem Kolff performs a dialysis of a kidney patient, marking the 1st successful use of what would later be called an "artificial kidney" or a "kidney machine."
Willem Johan Kolff was born on February 14, 1911 at Leiden, The Netherlands. His father was a physician, and he decided at an early age to follow the footsteps of his father. He began his medical studies at the University of Leiden in 1930. From 1934 to 1936, he worked as an assistant in the pathological anatomy department of the university.
After completing M.D. in 1938, Kolff continued studies at the University of Groningen. It was during this time that Kolff became interested in the possibility of artificially simulating the function of kidney, to remove toxins from the blood of patients with uremia, or kidney failure. Professor Polak Daniels, chief of the medical department at Groningen, became his mentor and supported him.
He began his research in dialysis at Gottingen after watching a young man die from kidney failure. He became interested in and studied deeply on blood transfusion as well. When Germany attacked the Netherlands in 1940, Kolff founded the first blood bank on the continent of Europe.
He theorized that a machine could be made to work as a kidney substitute, and could be used to filter out acid and waste materials from the blood. The machine could be used for such time till the kidney tissue could regenerate and function again.
But all resources were restricted during World War II. His creative mind laid hands on laundry tubs, wooden drums, cellophane tubing, a semipermeable sausage casing, and an electric motor. With these, he made a crude apparatus. With that, he drew the patient's blood, cleansed it of impurities, and pumped it back into the patient.
The first several patients lived only a few days. The breakthrough came a month after the war ended. In August 1945, Kolff was asked to treat Maria Schafstad, a 65-year-old female prisoner. She was in a coma due to renal failure. Maria was branded as a Nazi collaborator, and Kolff was advised to deny treatment and allow her to die. But Kolff, true to the principles of medical ethics, believed that, as a doctor, it was not his job to determine who should live or die. He started treating her as a patient and not a criminal. After many hours of treatment, she slowly opened her eyes. She lived for 6 more years, and died for reasons not related to kidney issues.
After the war, he shipped free dialysis machines to researchers in England, Canada and the United States. He immigrated to the United States in 1950, where he worked at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Later, at the University of Utah, Dr. Kolff mentored Dr. Robert Jarvik, and, together, they created the Jarvik-7 artificial heart. Over the years, Dr. Kolff mentored many other pioneers in the artificial organ field.
In 1967, Kolff moved to the University of Utah. Despite the opposition of many physicians, he wanted to give the patient more comfort and allow them to perform their dialysis at home, without a doctor's supervision. In 1975, he introduced the Wearable Artificial Kidney, an 8-pound chest pack with an 18-pound auxiliary tank.
On December 2, 1982, the Jarvik-7 artificial heart was successfully implanted into Barney Clark, a 61-year-old dentist. When Cark died after 4 months, due to other issues, the Jarvik-7 was still functioning.
Like polio vaccine creator Jonas Salk, Kolff never patented his inventions, and donated everything to the world. He officially retired in 1997, but continued his research and creative work till his death on February 11, 2009.
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September 11, 1945 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-5 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. The Jints led 5-1 at the 7th inning stretch, but the Cards scored 2 in the 7th, 1 in the 8th and 2 in the 9th, the winning run coming on Whitey Kurowski singling home Marty Marion. Mel Ott, at age 36 the Giants' right fielder and manager, with 510 home runs in his career to make him the National League's all-time leader, went 0-for-5. He only played 43 more games, and hit 1 more home run.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers split a doubleheader with the Cincinnati Reds at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Reds won the opener, 5-4. Despite Augie Galan going 4-for-5, and Dixie Walker 1-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs, the Dodgers lost it in the 10th inning when Al Libke singled home Kermit Wahl. Walker went 3-for-5 in the nightcap.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-4 and 5-1 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. They won the 1st game in the 10th inning, when Bob Elliott singled Johnny Barrett home.
* The Chicago Cubs beat the Boston Braves, 5-4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Dizzy Trout pitched a 2-hit shutout.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 2-1 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
* The Philadelphia Athletics were supposed to play the St. Louis Browns at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. But wartime travel restrictions were still in effect, so the teams agreed to move this day's game to the day before, and play a doubleheader. The Browns won the 1st game, 3-2. The A's won the 2nd game, 5-3.
* And the New York Yankees and the Cleveland Indians were simply not scheduled.
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