PERMANENT INTUBATION OF THE THORACIC AORTA

SINCE the first reported permanent anastomosis of a blood vessel by Eck,¹many efforts have been directed toward the discovery of improved technics for the union of blood vessels. The contributions of Jassinowsky,²Dörfler,³Briau and Jaboulay⁴and Watts⁵were important steps in the development of successful methods of suture. These were culminated by the painstaking work of Carrel and Guthrie⁶in the years 1905 to 1912. The technic which they evolved has been highly successful in experienced hands and remains the basis of present methods. However, during the period in which suture technics were developing, the search for simpler and more rapid methods continued along other lines. As early as 1897 Nitze⁷advocated the use of an ivory ring. Through this ring a vessel was threaded, and after the edge was everted, the vessel and the ring were passed into the open