Two of the! nation's leading young research- j ers and teachers in the field of heart and blood vessel disease will be visiting speakers here at the 13th annual meeting of the Louisiana Heart Association, April 27 and 28.
Dr. Harold P. Chastant, Lafayette internist, president of the Heart Association, said that the out of .state visiting speakers, Dr. W. Sam Henly of Houston, a heart surgeon, and Dr. Joseph K. Perloff of Washington, D. C, an internist and heart specialist "are among the most active workers in research, and medical reporting, in this field.
"This meeting will bring to Lafayette some of the top medical figures in our own state, teachers, practitoners, research scientists. Their talks, along with those of our visitors and a large display of teaching exhibits and heart station exhibits, will make this meeting an unusual event of its kind.
"Heart Association leaders are making a special effort in this Lafayette session to bring the scientific story to the lay public," Dr. Chastant said. "This is being done chiefly by means of the Public Forum on Heart Disease, scheduled for Friday, April 27, at 8 p. m., at the Municipal auditorium. The public attending these sessions will hear a forum discussion by Louisiana authorities. Lay participation in a question and answer session will bring the-program directly within the reach of the lay audience.
"In addition, a documentary movie of the Heart Association, entitled The Search' will show the wide ranging efforts of Louisiana scientists to help solve the many problems of heart disease. The movie will be shown to a general audience for the first time.
"Dr. John B. Stotler of Baton Rouge is bringing to Lafayette j and will put on exhibit some of the basic equipment needed to establish a heart station capable of serving for open heart surgery. This will include a heart-lung ma-
hine, an electronic monitoring device, and many other items.
/ledical exhibits from Tulane,
SU, Touro infirmary, and other
nstitutions in New Orleans, will on display with photographs, wall charts and other materials.
"Dr. Edgar Hull, assistant dean of the LSU Medical school, will speak on the forum in his role as an internist-teacher and authority in the field. Dr. Alton Ochsner Jr., a radiovascular surgeon of Ochsner Foundation hospital and clinic in New Orleans, will discuss surgical aspects and new procedures. Dr. Richard L. Fowler, professor and head of the department of pediatrics at LSU and president-elect of the Louisiana Heart Association, will tell of birth defects and other conditions creating heart disease in children. Dr. M i m s Mitchell Jr. of Lafayette, will bej moderator of the program."
Dr. Chastant reported that early reservations for the state meeting are heavy. He urged all physicians and their wives and lay members of the Heart Association in the south t Louisiana area, who are planning to participate, to return their attendance cards as soon as possible. These cards have been enclosed in invitations and notices sent to persons in the heart field throughout the state.
"Most of tiie two-day session,1' said Dr. Chastant, "will be scientific programs for physicians and nurses, but I would like to make clear and re-emphasize that the public is invited to the forum and documentary movie showing on the night of April 27 at the auditorium. This is a Lafayette civic event and an opportunity for public education in the field of treatment and prevention of heart disease. Louisiana Heart Association and its leadership hope that it will be widely attended and supported in this area."
Other events for Heart Association members include a crawfish supper at 6 p. m. at the auditorium, a tour of the Lafayette museum and points of interest for wives on Saturday at 9:30 a. m.; a Heart Fair, demonstrating campaign projects used in the recent Heart Fund campaign, set for Saturday morning at 9:30 a. m.; the association's annual luncheon at noon Saturday, at the auditorium; and a reception by Dr. and Mrs. Chastant for Heart Association members, Saturday afternoon at 6 p. m.
