Draft:Guillermo Escobar Aldasoro

Guillermo Escobar-Aldasoro (February 10th, 1932 – July 16th, 1997) was one of the pioneers of cardiovascular surgery in Mexico. He was also known to be an advocate for improving awareness of cardiovascular diseases as the prominent cause of death in Mexico at that time, most notably by promoting prevention and especially referring patients for modern heart surgery (very new at that time). In the early 1970's the most common cause of death of Mexicans over the age of 45 years was cardiovascular diseases, most notably from preventable Rheumatic fever and medicines did not do well for their damaged valves. There were very limited surgical options in Mexico, and Dr. Escobar was one of the first to bring it and teach it. He was the Chief of cardiovascular surgery at the General Hospital of Mexico and was the Program Director for the cardiovascular surgery fellowship at the same hospital.

Early life
Born in Mexico City, on February 10th, 1932 he was the only son of Dr. Reynaldo Escobar Castañeda and Guillermina Aldasoro Suarez. , and he had 3 sisters: Raquel, Susana and Graciela. His father was a general surgeon who was well known and respected (upon his death had a public school named after him ), who notably was an avid writer for dissent against the government, advocating for social reform. Reynaldo suffered a stroke in relation to having rheumatic aortic valve disease and ultimately died because of it while Guillermo was in medical school. Other notable fisgues in his family include Guillermo's uncle (on his father's side), Don Gonzalo Castañeda Escobar who was also a renown surgeon, while his uncles on his mother's side (Juan Pablo and Eduardo Aldasoro) were pioneers in Mexican aviation and founded its Air Force.

Guillermo attended the Colegio Cristobal Colon for middle school and high school from 1944 to 1948, graduating the latter at the age of 16.

Marriage and children
He was married twice. First to Isabel Hernandez-Chazaro and subsequently to Susanne N. Curn.

He had 4 children with Isabel: Maria Isabel, Maria Andrea, Reynaldo Guillermo and Gabriela. With Susanne he had one son: Guillermo Alejandro.

Professional career
At the age of 17 he entered medical school at the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1949 and graduated on November 11, 1955 with his thesis on Giardiasis and its importance in pediatric intestinal diseases. He paid for his education by working as an assistant to a pharmacist, delivering medications. . He completed a general surgery residency at the General Hospital of Mexico and was attracted to cardiovascular surgery and successfully obtained a scholarship to train in the US, contingent he return (see below). He immediately applied to be a teacher at his alma mater in 1957, ultimately rising to the title of full Professor at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and was named Professor of the Cardiovascular Clinic (class) for over 20 years.

He was accepted to his position as a fellow in cardiovascular surgery for two years at Baylor College of Medicine with a master surgeon Michael DeBakey, and in 1962 he went to Houston. There he was trained by the pioneers and giants in cardiovascular surgery, who in addition to Dr. DeBakey, included Denton Cooley, Stanley E Crawford, David V. Feliciano and Jimmy Howell. While he was there, he published and presented works with DeBakey and his team, including at the 36th American Heart Associacion meeting (see abstract on page 786 ) He returned to Mexico in 1964 and joined the Hospital General de Mexico in 1965 and became the Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at the Hospital General de Mexico from 1973-1988). He immediately began disseminating the importance of public awarness of cardiovascular diseases and the benefits of good surgical management by creating symposiums targeting a wide variety of audiences, as well as publishing updates in the treatment of severe vascular diseases like Leriche Syndrome and advanced gangrene . He was a notable advocate for initiating campaigns against the development of rheumatic heart diseases, bemoaning the fact that while campaigns existed to prevent and treat other illnesses like tuberculosis, there were none against the primary cause of death over age 45 (especially having lost his father to complications of this same illness) (Figure). He also championed campaigns for greater awareness of deep vein thrombosis, venous disease and pulmonary embolus and organized multidiciplinary conferences with his colleagues in pulmonary medicine, hematology etc to disseminate better treatments (and figure).

While the Hospital General was his primary academic appointment, he was worked at the Hospital 20 de Noviembre and the Hospital Fernando Quiroz. Knowing that the patients at the General Hopsital were poor and unable to afford the commercially-available heart valves, he learned how to hand-make valves from pig meninges on to a steel ring, and his fellows would meet with him weekly to create the valves needed for the indigent patients.

As cardiovascular surgery was advancing in the 1960s and 1970, he returned to Houston and trained again with Dr. DeBakey and his team in 1977. When asked why he wanted to do another fellowship that was notoriusly caustic and laborious, he reportedly said, "because I am a maschoist!". After a 6 month fellowship, he returned to Mexico

His interest in improving the outcomes of patients with diabetes and severe peripheral vascular disease led to develop a research lab to study xenotransplantation of fetal pancreatic tissue to treat diabetes, as well as testing novel treatments for the severe calcification seen in patients with peripheral vascular disease from advanced diabetes and renal disease. He was a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and joined the Mexican Academy of Surgery in 1974, rising various ranks within it until his death. He repeatedly volunteered his time and expertice as a member of the surgical teams deployed to underserved areas ("Encuentros Médico-Quirúrgicos ") by the Mexican Academy of Surgery where marathonic surgery was done for free.

In 1985, a large earthquake in Mexico City destroyed (among many other buildings) the residence hall (dormitory) for the students, residents, fellows and other trainees of The General Hospital of Mexico, killing many who were sleeping within. Dr. Escobar and his wife, Dr. Susanne Curn-Escobar (also a cardiovascular surgeon) created a Foundation, and aided by their ties to Texas Medical Center in Houston, TX they obtained funding for 15 injured residents to travel to undergo rehabilitation and medical treatment. Their successful intervention was recognized by the Secretary of Health and the US Ambassador

Dr. Escobar was a true academic surgeon who uncharacteristically published both in Mexican National, as well as International journals (see below), produced surgical videos (several of which won competitions), and was a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal, International Angiology. He became a founding member of the Mexican Society of Cardiac Surgery in 1990. In parallel to his academic, surgical career at the General Hospital of Mexico, he was also a founding member of El Hospital Metropolitano which opened in December, 1976 and was the second President of its Medical Society from 1978-1979

Death
Legacy Dr. Escobar was a pioneer and teacher of modern cardiovascular surgery in Mexico, publishing innovative surgical techniques; including some extreme bypasses (e.g. Ascending aortic to femoral arteries and internal iliac artery to the carotids) to advance cardiac and vascular surgery. He laid the foundation for cardiovascular and vascular surgery as a subspecialty in Mexico (distinct from traditional general surgery) as well as organized numerous symposiums to disseminate modern medicine and surgery (many bringing his old teachers and friends from Houston). After his death, his life was memorialized at the Mexican Academy of Surgery meeting by Drs. Fernández del Castillo Sánchez Carlos and Palma García Salvador, and published in their scientific journal, Cirugia y Cirujanos [Vol. 66 Núm.4. Julio-Agosto 1998 Pags. 159-161 Cir Ciruj 1998; 66(4)]. Prior to his death he wrote a fictional story in Spanish entitled, El Reloj de Arena which was loosly tied to his life. While published, it was never distributed widely, although ocassionally found on book store websites.

Published works
See Pubmed under the author names:

G E Aldasoro

G Escobar Aldasoro

Also an abstract here

Recognition
Include honours, decorations, awards, and distinctions in this section, if any.