Discover Yahoo! With Your Friends

Explore news, videos, and much more based on what your friends are reading and watching. Publish your own activity and retain full control.

To get started, first

YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Scalpel, check, oxygen, check, Twitter account? Doctors live-tweet open heart surgery in world first

    By Adam Parris-Long | Yahoo! News – Thu, Feb 23, 2012

    Surgeons operating on a patient having a coronary bypass tweeted the entire two-hour procedure in a world first.

    The unnamed 57-year-old man going under the knife had more than 5,000 people following every incision during the operation which took place at the Memorial Hermann Hospital in Houston, Texas.

    The 57-year-old patient wheeled in for the first live tweeted coronary bypass.

    The micro-blogging service has in the past seen women tweet as they give birth and astronauts beam out messages from space but this is the first time this has happened during surgery.

    Followers were given more than 100 detailed tweets, images and videos as surgeons carried out the delicate operation.

    Dr Michael Macris, who carried out the procedure even wore a headcam to film the entire procedure. 

    Complex medical terminology was explained by Dr Paresh Patel who fired out the updates as Dr Macris set to work.

    Job well done: surgeons complete the two-hour procedure.

    The updates spanned the procedure right from the patient’s arrival in theatre to the successful conclusion, to which Dr Patel tweeted: “The patient is now closed and ready for recovery room". The procedure was carried out to raise awareness for Heart Month.

    Highlights of the surgery twittercast can be found here.
     

    9 comments

    • lewis
      lewis  •  3 mths ago
      well if i ever end up in having open heart surgery id rather the surgeon be focusing on my heart 100% rather than keep stopping to type stuff on twitter
      • Inja K
        Inja K 3 mths ago
        this is actually tremendously useful - this surgeon has brought a complicated and scary procedure that is commonly performed on many people in the UK to the masses and explained what it's all about and what is happening. kudos to him for doing it.
    • Dereda
      Dereda  •  Edinburgh, United Kingdom  •  3 mths ago
      There is a time and a place for every thing and performing open heart surgery is neither the time or place for posting messages on twitter.
      • Matt B
        Matt B 3 mths ago
        I don't use Facebook or twitter as most people just Talk rubbish between their friends. If they done more stuff like this I might join. You get to learn new information that is interesting. Not, 'I just woke up and ate a apple'.
    • berna
      berna  •  Nairobi, Kenya  •  3 mths ago
      So, was the doc giving instructions on what to be tweeted or doing it himself? I can only hope that someone else was typing because otherwise it can be quite odd.
    • Ade
      Ade  •  Dagenham, United Kingdom  •  3 mths ago
      I suppose there was another staff doing that not the Doctor.
    • JOHN
      JOHN  •  Manchester, United Kingdom  •  3 mths ago
      from Johns wife.Did the patient give permission ?.
    • Hedgehogs in the Mist
      Hedgehogs in the Mist  •  3 mths ago
      Just sad.
    • Effy Desmarais
      Effy Desmarais  •  3 mths ago
      How comforting for the patient... :|
    • Iluminati E
      Iluminati E  •  3 mths ago
      i think its a good idea.. might take the fear out of having operations like this done..
    • Ann
      Ann  •  3 mths ago
      ah have a heart
     Post a comment
    [ [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 2]], 'http://yhoo.it/KeQd0p', '[Slideshow: See photos taken on the way down]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['Connery is an experienced stuntman', 7]], ' http://yhoo.it/KpUoHO', '[Slideshow: Death-defying daredevils]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['know that we have confidence in', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/LqYjAX ', '[Related: The Secret Service guide to Cartagena]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['We picked up this other dog and', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JUSxvi', '[Related: 8 common dog fears, how to calm them]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 5]], 'http://bit.ly/JnoJYN', '[Related: Did WH share raid details with filmmakers?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['accused of running a fake hepatitis B', 3]], 'http://bit.ly/KoKiqJ', '[Factbox: AQAP, al-Qaeda in Yemen]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have my contacts on or glasses', 3]], 'http://abcn.ws/KTE5AZ', '[Related: Should the murder charge be dropped?]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 5]], 'http://yhoo.it/JD7nlD', '[Related: Bristol Palin reality show debuts June 19]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['have made this nation great as Sarah Palin', 1]], 'http://bit.ly/JRPFRO', '[Related: McCain adviser who vetted Palin weighs in on VP race]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['A JetBlue flight from New York to Las Vegas', 3]], 'http://yhoo.it/GV9zpj', '[Related: View photos of the JetBlue plane in Amarillo]', ' ', '630', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 15]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/white-house-stays-out-of-teen-s-killing-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120411/martinzimmermen.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['Titanic', 7]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/titanic-anniversary/', ' ', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/b/4e/b4e5ad9f00b5dfeeec2226d53e173569.jpeg', '550', ' ', ' ', ], [ [['He was in shock and still strapped to his seat', 6]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/navy-jet-crashes-in-virginia-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/cv/ip/ap/default/120406/jet_ap.jpg', '630', ' ', 'AP', ], [ [['xxxxxxxxxxxx', 11]], 'http://news.yahoo.com/photos/russian-grannies-win-bid-to-sing-at-eurovision-1331223625-slideshow/', 'Click image to see more photos', 'http://l.yimg.com/a/p/us/news/editorial/1/56/156d92f2760dcd3e75bcd649a8b85fcf.jpeg', '500', ' ', 'AP', ] ]
    [ [ [['did not go as far his colleague', 8]], '29438204', '0' ], [ [[' the 28-year-old neighborhood watchman who shot and killed', 4]], '28924649', '0' ], [ [['because I know God protects me', 14], ['Brian Snow was at a nearby credit union', 5]], '28811216', '0' ], [ [['The state news agency RIA-Novosti quoted Rosaviatsiya', 6]], '28805461', '0' ], [ [['measure all but certain to fail in the face of bipartisan', 4]], '28771014', '0' ], [ [['matter what you do in this case', 5]], '28759848', '0' ], [ [['presume laws are constitutional', 7]], '28747556', '0' ], [ [['has destroyed 15 to 25 houses', 7]], '28744868', '0' ], [ [['short answer is yes', 7]], '28746030', '0' ], [ [['opportunity to tell the real story', 7]], '28731764', '0' ], [ [['entirely respectable way to put off the searing constitutional controversy', 7]], '28723797', '0' ], [ [['point of my campaign is that big ideas matter', 9]], '28712293', '0' ], [ [['As the standoff dragged into a second day', 7]], '28687424', '0' ], [ [['French police stepped up the search', 17]], '28667224', '0' ], [ [['Seeking to elevate his candidacy back to a general', 8]], '28660934', '0' ], [ [['The tragic story of Trayvon Martin', 4]], '28647343', '0' ], [ [['Karzai will get a chance soon to express', 8]], '28630306', '0' ], [ [['powerful storms stretching', 8]], '28493546', '0' ], [ [['basic norm that death is private', 6]], '28413590', '0' ], [ [['songwriter also saw a surge in sales for her debut album', 6]], '28413590', '1', 'Watch music videos from Whitney Houston ', 'on Yahoo! Music', 'http://music.yahoo.com' ], [ [['keyword', 99999999999999999999999]], 'videoID', '1', 'overwrite-pre-description', 'overwrite-link-string', 'overwrite-link-url' ] ]

    News For You

    Loading...