'Firsts' and 'Onlys'

Historical 'firsts' and 'onlys'

• 1900-39
• 1940-59
• 1960-69
• 1970-79
• 1980-89
• 1990-99
• 2000-present

1900-39

• First and only hospital in Iowa with a hygienic laboratory for studying the development of infectious diseases such as diphtheria, typhoid, tuberculosis, and rabies
• First medical center to provide definite evidence that coronary artery occlusion produces heart damage and electrocardiographic abnormalities
• Key development site of the transurethral surgical technique for relieving obstructions of the prostate gland
• First research lab to record human EEG activity
• First physician to describe how blood is supplied to the prostate gland
• Only hospital in Iowa with a highly specialized neuro-ophthalmology (visual problems related to the nervous system) clinic
• Among the first hospitals worldwide to develop a modern blood banking system, demonstrating it is safe to refrigerate, ship, and use banked blood

1940-59

• Development site of buffered aspirin, later marketed by Bristol-Meyers as Bufferin®
• Pioneering site of a revolutionary nonsurgical method of treatment for babies born with clubfoot, called the “Ponseti Method”
• First hospital in the world to develop a successful method of freezing human sperm, leading to the founding of many commercial “sperm banks” throughout the U.S.
• Pioneering site for injecting radioactive gold liquid into the prostate for treatment of patients with prostate cancer
• First and only eye bank in Iowa
• One of the nation’s first hospitals to build and use a heart-lung machine able to circulate, oxygenate, and filter the blood of heart surgery patients

1960-69

• First ‘clinical research center’ in Iowa funded by the National Institutes of Health
• Founding site of a national eye bank network, a group of amateur radio operators who met on the air twice daily to help the nation's ophthalmologists obtain donor eyes
• First hospital in Iowa to perform artificial heart valve replacement surgery
• First hospital in Iowa with a Medical Intensive Care Unit
• First hospital in Iowa with a neonatal transport van
• First hospital in Iowa to perform laser surgery for eye disease
• First hospital in Iowa to use a saphenous vein for coronary artery disease repairs
• First hospital to offer chronic hemodialysis with a statewide network of affiliated dialysis centers

1970-79

• First hospital to demonstrate that a reduction in blood cholesterol produces improvement in atherosclerotic plaques
• First hospital in the world to perform horizontal gastroplasty for morbidly obese patients
• First in Iowa and one of the longest funded, NIH, multi-disciplinary research programs on the control of the heart by the brain
• First hospital in Iowa, and one of the nation’s first, to perform echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound) as a standard clinical diagnostic test
• Hospital leads first nationwide clinical trial in humans to demonstrate that reduction in blood cholesterol reduces mortality and morbidity from cardiovascular disease
• First hospital in Iowa to establish a Lipid Research Clinic
• First hospital in the world with a program for determining genetic inheritance of HLA antigens in cadaver donors, providing better matching of organ donors and recipients and improved graft outcomes
• First hospital in Iowa with a Cardiovascular Research Center that is now recognized worldwide for its significant research advances
• First laboratory in the world to demonstrate that Zinc is an effective antimicrobial agent)
• First hospital-based helicopter transfer of a patient in Iowa history
• First hospital in Iowa to perform a combined kidney/pancreas transplant

1980-89

• First hospital in the U.S. to perform vertical banded gastroplasty for patients with morbid obesity
• First hospital in the world to introduce an electric pump in enteroclysis, a fluoroscopic (“real-time”) type of x-ray of the small intestine.
• First hospital in Iowa to perform bone marrow transplant procedures
• First hospital in the U.S. to implant a multichannel cochlear implant that helps deaf patients hear sounds that can be interpreted as speech
• Only center in Iowa to participate in the world’s first Diabetes Control and Complication Trial, demonstrating how strict control of blood sugar reduces cardiovascular events
• Home to the world’s largest NIH-funded center devoted to cochlear implant clinical research and the only NIH clinical center for the study of cochlear implant technologies
• Home of the world’s first Bone Marrow Donor Registry
• First and only hospital in Iowa, and third hospital in the world, to use electron beam CT for imaging cardiac, pulmonary, and pediatric patients
• First hospital in the U.S. to introduce ultrasound as a tool in the diagnosis of patients with acute appendicitis
• First hospital in Iowa to perform a successful adult heart transplant operation
• Home of the first multidisciplinary digestive diseases center in Iowa and one of the first in the U.S.
• First hospital in the world to introduce the “To-And-Fro Flow” as a Doppler sign for the diagnosis of patients with pseudoaneurysms
• Site of the first hospital laboratory in the world to demonstrate that the odor of bacterial vaginosis was due to trimethylamine
• First hospital in the world to implant a multichannel cochlear implant in a congenitally deaf child
• First hospital in the world to place cochlear implants bilaterally at the same surgery
• First hospital in the world to introduce the “Water-Simethicone-Rotation” technique as an oral contrast for improvement of pancreatic visualization by ultrasound
• First hospital in Iowa to open a specialized clinic for patients with HIV/AIDS
• First hospital in Iowa to successfully implant a ventricular assist device that gives the patient’s heart a chance to rest so it can resume functioning on its own
• First hospital n the world to administer the general anesthetic, Desflurane, to a patient receiving coronary bypass surgery

1990-99

• First hospital in Iowa to provide high-frequency ventilation
• First and only hospital in Iowa with a comprehensive positron emission tomography (PET) imaging center that includes a cyclotron, developmental radiochemistry facilities, and multiple PET and PET/CT systems
• First and only hospital in Iowa capable of producing [O-15] water for positron emission tomography (PET) measurements of blood flow for "brain mapping" studies, measuring cognitive effects of various brain disorders (schizophrenia, panic disorder, aphasia), the effects of drugs and drug abuse (marijuana), and to investigate neurophysiology of normal and altered cognition
• First hospital in Iowa and third in the U.S. to offer inhaled nitric oxide therapy
• First hospital in U.S. to have NIH-funded center for research on anemia in newborn babies
• First medical center in the world to develop a successful, though temporary, gene therapy procedure for correcting the genetic defect in cystic fibrosis
• First hospital in Iowa, and among the first medical centers nationwide, to participate in a large-scale preventive trial for prostate cancer
• First hospital in Iowa to perform stent placements based upon CT-derived virtual bronchoscopy
• First surviving baby below 400 grams in Iowa -13th in the world
• First and only hospital in Iowa with a positron emission tomography (PET) center that produces [N-13] ammonia, which is capable of making pictures of blood flow to the heart muscle
• First hospital in Iowa to perform a living-related liver transplant
• First hospital in Iowa to provide extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for neonates, infants, and adults with impaired lung function
• First hospital in Iowa to implant an electric ventricular assist device to keep a patient alive while awaiting a donor heart for transplant
• First hospital in Iowa to perform an auditory brain stem implant
• First center for macular degeneration in the U.S. that provides patient care while also conducting research into more effective treatments and possible prevention of the disease
• First research center to discover the gene for open-angle glaucoma
• First and only hospital in Iowa certified as a Level I Trauma Center with pediatric commitment, the highest level of designation from the American College of Surgeons
• First hospital in Iowa to create a comprehensive Complementary and Alternative Medicine Clinic
• First hospital in Iowa to perform real-time image-guided trans bronchial biopsies based on CT-derived virtual bronchoscopy
• First hospital to find conclusive signs of different brain activity in introverts and extroverts
• First cochlear implant center in the world to develop a new type of cochlear implant that combines residual acoustic hearing with cochlear implant technology that provides improved word understanding and near-normal appreciation of music
• First and only hospital in Iowa to use a reconstructive surgical technique called distraction osteogenesis to aid patients of all ages with airway and craniofacial anomalies

2000-present

• Home of the only cancer center in Iowa given “comprehensive cancer center” designation by the National Cancer Institute
• First and only hospital in the U.S. with a high-fidelity driving simulator for assessing the safety of drivers with health problems such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, sleep disorders, orthopaedic problems, and drug effects
• First hospital in the U.S. to offer a clinical trial of an adenovirus-prostate-specific antigen vaccine for prostate cancer patients
• First hospital in the world to use robotic surgery for removal of an adrenal carcinoma (an aggressive, deadly tumor) and an adrenal mass from a pediatric patient
• First hospital in the world to use robotic surgery for the Ladd's procedure, which corrects a condition in which the intestines do not rotate properly and are at risk for cutting off their own blood supply by twisting
• First hospital in the world to use robotic surgery for removal of a colon from a child
• First hospital in the world to use robotic surgery for removal of the entire colon and rectum with an ileal pull-through in either an adult or a child
• First hospital in Iowa to use robotic surgery for radical prostatectomy procedures, in which a patient's cancerous prostate is removed, and pyeloplasty procedures for treating patients with obstructed kidneys
• Only hospital in the Midwest with a comprehensive center designated specifically to serve patients with tumors of the optic nerve
• First hospital in Iowa to surgically repair injuries to the inferior alveolar nerve, which supplies feeling to the lower lip and chin
• First hospital in Iowa to offer digital mammography
• First hospital in Iowa to surgically repair injuries to the lingual nerve, which supplies feeling and taste to the tongue
• First and only hospital in U.S. offering multidisciplinary approach to patients with uterine fibroids
• First and only hospital in Iowa with a positron emission tomography (PET) Center in Iowa that produces [N-13] ammonia for studies of myocardial perfusion
• First hospital in Iowa to perform mitral valve surgery using robotic surgery
• First hospital in Iowa to perform gastric reflux surgery using the da Vinci® robotic surgical system on the world’s smallest patient (Nissen fundoplication in a 5.7 pound infant)
• First hospital in Iowa to offer a special procedure involving the insertion of radioactive seeds after a breast lumpectomy using a catheter, which causes less radiation damage to surrounding tissue
• The first and only hospital in Iowa with a positron emission tomography (PET) center that makes [C-11] choline, which is used to measure tumor metabolism in the brain and prostate
• First hospital in Iowa to offer nocturnal home hemodialysis therapy
• First and only hospital in Iowa to offer a residency training program in emergency medicine
• Only American hospital to lead the nation’s largest clinical trial for tinnitus (‘ringing in the ears’) ever funded by the government
• First Iowa hospital with ultra high-field, three Tesla magnetic resonance imaging
• Smallest patient in the world (5.06 pounds) to undergo robotic surgery
• Only neonate in the world to undergo congenital diaphragmatic hernia repairs using robotic surgery
• Only Bochdalek diaphragmatic hernia repair that has been performed with robotic surgery
• First hospital in Iowa, and one of the first nationwide, to use bar coding for all phases of the blood transfusion process
• First and only hospital in Iowa with a positron emission tomography center able to synthesize [F-18] FLT, an imaging drug used to detect changes in DNA synthesis, indicative of new cancer growth
• First hospital in the U.S. to use a 64-slice Multidetector-Row CT scanner with respiratory gating for dynamic lung imaging
• First hospital in the U.S. to perform digital breast tomosynthesis imaging, which allows physicians to "page through" the interior of the breast without the superimposition of the other tissues
• Home to the world’s first fully digitally integrated image-guided radiation therapy center