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Þ Þ Þ Þ Þ No6  No6  No6  No6 Ü Ü Ü Ü Ü July 2010

A SPECIAL AMIC NEWSLETTER

Dr. Andranik Ovassapian                                                                                                                               In Memoriam                                                                                                                                         1936-2010

An anesthesiologist who developed some of the tools and techniques used to control breathing during surgery for patients with a difficult airway, Andranik (Andy) Ovassapian, MD., professor of anesthesia and critical care at the University of Chicago passed away on June 17, 2010, following a major stroke while attending the European Society of Anesthesiology meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

"Andy was not just a giant in the field of flexible fiber-optic intubation and methods of airway control – he was extraordinary" writes The Airway Gazette (July 2010).  Motivated by the historically well-known occurrences of fatalities in difficult airway patients, Dr. Ovassapian acquired a profound interest in improving the science of airway management. The fiber-optic intubation that he invented, is a sophisticated system used to insert a breathing tube into the lungs of a patient when standard ventilation methods such as a facemask or routine tracheal intubation are not adequate.

Dr. Ovassapian was born in Arak, Iran. He received his medical degree in 1961 from Pahlavi University (known as Shiraz University now). He began his residency in anesthesiology at Namazee Hospital in Shiraz, in 1961, and moved to the United States in 1963 to complete his residency and a research fellowship at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He taught at U. of Pennsylvania for 18 months before returning to the Pahlavi University medical school in 1968 as an associate professor of anesthesia. He became chairman of the Department of anesthesiology and served for six years.

In 1974, he joined the Northwestern University, and was promoted to full professorship in 1983.  He invented the Ovassapian Fiber-optic Airway in 1991, founded the Society of Airway Management (SAM) in 1995 and joined in 1998, the University of Chicago Hospitals Faculty, where he built an Airway Study and Training Center and until recently supervised internationally renowned airway management courses.

A prolific researcher, author and educator, Dr. Ovassapian published 44 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, 51 abstracts, 50 book chapters and three books: Fiber-optic Airway Endoscopy in Anesthesia and Critical Care, (1990), Fiber-optic Endoscopy and the Difficult Airway (1996), and co-authoring with Chicago colleague, Dr. Dennis Coalson, New Developments in Airway Management (2009).

He lectured all over the world, giving more than 350 presentations at medical centers and scientific meetings. He travelled many times to Armenia for teaching and conducting workshops and on his last trip in June-July, 2007, during the Second Armenian Medical International Conference, 136 participants attended his workshop. He established that year, in Armenia, a center of fiber-optics and difficult intubation.

Dr. Ovassapian played the violin and enjoyed reading, golf and chess. He relished sharing life experiences with his family. As a passionate contributor, he valued his affiliation with the Armenian community and especially his church in Glenview, Ill.

May he rest in Peace.                                            

AMIC’s President, Dr. Avedis Bogosyan and Executive members, and all the representatives of its member associations extend their heartfelt condolences to Mrs. Ovassapian, Ashghen, his daughter Nora, sons Armen and Vahe and eight grandchildren.