biology

Richard C. Lillehei

Richard C. Lillehei is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard C. Lillehei rather than just read about it. In short: Richard C. Lillehei (10 December 1927 - 1 April 1981) was an American transplant surgeon who performed the world's first successful simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant in 1966 (sometimes quoted as 1967) and the first known human intestinal transplantation.

Key takeaways

Richard C. Lillehei belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard C. Lillehei to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard C. Lillehei from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard C. Lillehei (10 December 1927 - 1 April 1981) was an American transplant surgeon who performed the world's first successful simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant in 1966 (sometimes quoted as 1967) and the first known human intestinal transplantation. He came from a renowned medical family in Minneapolis; his father was a dentist and his brothers were cardiologist James Lillehei and cardiothoracic surgeon C. Walton Lillehei. The Lillehei Surgical Society is named in honour of the three brothers.

Early life and education Richard Carlton Lillehei was the son of a dentist from Minneapolis and the younger brother of cardiothoracic surgeon C. Walton Lillehei and cardiologist James Lillehei. He completed his early education from West Side High School in Edina, Minnesota and in 1948 graduated from the University of Minnesota. After graduating in medicine in 1951 from the University's medical school, he spent two years at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and gained his PhD in Surgery from the University of Minnesota in 1960.

Pancreas transplantation On 17 December 1966, Lillehei assisted William Kelly in transplanting part of a pancreas and a whole kidney into a 28-year-old woman with type I diabetes and renal disease. Postoperative problems led to a decision to remove the graft, and she died soon after. On New Year's Eve 1966, Lillehei led the world's first successful simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplant. It involved transplanting the whole pancreas, accompanying duodenum and one kidney. The recipient survived four and a half months. By 1973, he had performed 13 pancreas transplants. His other fields of research included shock treatment, organ procurement, open-heart surgery and kidney transplantation.

Personal and family Lillehei married B.J. (Elizabeth Jeanne) and they had four sons, Richard C., Ted, John and James.

Death and legacy In 1986, the Lillehei Surgical Society was founded in the names of the three Lillehei brothers. Every two years an award is given to the most outstanding clinician in the field of pancreas transplantation.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard C. Lillehei

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard C. Lillehei claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard C. Lillehei before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard C. Lillehei ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard C. Lillehei

In research: Richard C. Lillehei appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard C. Lillehei in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard C. Lillehei is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1927 births, 1966 in medicine, 1981 deaths, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard C. Lillehei outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard C. Lillehei in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard C. Lillehei means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard C. Lillehei out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard C. Lillehei in simple terms?

Why does Richard C. Lillehei matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard C. Lillehei?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard C. Lillehei.