James Buchanan, one of the fathers of modern veterinary cardiology, dies

On July 20, the death of Dr. James Buchanan was reported in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. B, as his fellow students and students knew him affectionately, was founding member of the Cardiology Specialty of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Along with distinguished colleagues, including Drs. David Detweiler, Don Patterson and David KnightDr. Buchanan was instrumental in establishing veterinary cardiology as the scientific discipline known today.

In the 1960s, Dr. Buchanan was part of the University of Pennsylvania Comparative Cardiovascular Studies Unit, which was one of the first organisms to study heart disease in companion animals in collaboration with fellow human medicine practitioners. The One Health concept was a philosophy championed by Dr. Buchanan decades before establishing itself among academic circles. In addition to a brilliant cardiologist, the vet was also a cardiovascular surgeon. He performed the first artificial pacemaker implantation in a client-owned dog in 1967 and was instrumental in developing surgical techniques to address various congenital heart defects in dogs.

Dr. Buchanan’s achievements also included the development of the radiographic measurement of the size of the vertebral heart, which is still used to this day.

Likewise, it made its digitized collection of angiograms, electrocardiograms, pressure plots and case material available to the University, “an invaluable teaching tool”, they highlight.

After retirement, the veterinary community continued to seek his advice on a routine basis, especially with regard to birth defects such as pulmonary stenosis and aortic arch abnormalities.

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