-
Cleveland Clinic Staff Portrait
Introduction
Edward M Cordasco Sr (February 19, 1926 - January 13, 2013) was an American physician whose pioneering work in respiratory and occupational medicine was instrumental in the treatment of pulmonary edema.
Early Life and Career
Edward "Ed" Cordasco was born in Niagara Falls, NY in 1926 to Italian immigrants Samuel Cordasco and Mary (Sevarius Iannuzzi) Cordasco. He graduated from Canisius College in Buffalo NY in 1945, at the age of 19. Ed then attended Georgetown Medical School, where he received his MD in 1949. While in medical residency in internal and pulmonary medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, he met and married Martha A Bickel, at that time laboratory manager under F. Mason Sones, the pioneer of the selective coronary angiogram. The couple have two children, Martha Ann Cordasco-Reaper, MSSA and Dr. Edward M. Cordasco, Jr, DO. Dr. Cordasco Sr served as first lieutenant and then Captain in the U.S. Army Medical Corp where he staffed a dispensary behind the front lines. He was awarded numerous medals during his service. He separated from the Army with an honorable discharge following the Korean War. After the Army, Dr. Cordasco established a private practice in Niagara Falls, NY. He taught at the University of Buffalo Medical School in Buffalo, NY.
-
Army Days in the Korean War -
Dr. Cordasco Sr and his wife Martha at a social event.
Dr. Cordasco Sr published numerous articles on Pulmonary Edema, Pulmonary Embolism, and Pulmonary Environmental Effects, in prominent journals such as JAMA Internal Medicine, CHEST Journal, Journal of Angiology, Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and Medical Trial Technique Quarterly. He joined the Cleveland Clinic as head of the department for Respiratory and Pulmonary Medicine from 1975-1991, where he updated the hospital’s intensive care unit. During his time at Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Cordasco Sr continued to publish over 30 scholarly articles in numerous journals. Dr. Cordasco Sr joined an international board of private physicians for several years from 1991-1996, continuing his research and mentoring numerous physicians worldwide. Dr. Cordasco Sr retired from practice and research in 1996 at the age of 70.
-
Working Days as Department Head of Respiratory and Pulmonary Medicine at Cleveland Clinic
Discovery of Treatment for Pulmonary Edema
Several years prior to 1985, ethyl alcohol was utilized for many patients acutely ill with pulmonary edema related to fat embolism, and in a few cases of patients with severe chemical pulmonary edema. Ethyl alcohol was not employed in individuals afflicted with chlorine, phosgene, or antimony pentachloride intoxication. Dr. Cordasco Sr used his extensive background in chemistry to innovate a new method to neutralize the effects of hydrofloric acid. He used ammonium carbonate combined with respiratory therapy utilizing Intermittent Positive Pressure Breathing (IPPB). The results were striking, and the patient’s life was saved! Dr. Cordasco Sr’s newly invented medical treatment for pulmonary edema is the first instance documented in medical literature for treatment of the noted patient populations. Individuals with severe hydrogen sulfide intoxication were also given systemic sodium nitrate to improve oxygen transport.
Later Career
Throughout his career, Dr. Cordasco Sr had been a member of the FACP (Fellow of the College of Physicians) and the FACA (Fellow of the American College of Chest Physicians). Upon leaving the Cleveland Clinic in 1991, Dr, Cordasco Sr continued to publish articles and to do environmental research relating to pulmonary care. He published the book, Environmental Respiratory Diseases (Industrial Health and Safety) in 1994.
Dr. Cordasco Sr passed from Myocardial Infarction in his sleep on January 13, 2013. He and his wife are buried at the Western Reserve Veteran’s Cemetery in Rittman, Ohio.
Publications
Pulmonic manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, March 1957
Flicker Photometry and Electrocardiography Correlation, The Journal Of Histochrmistry And Cytochemistry, 1960
Pulmonary Aspects of Some Toxic Experimental Space Fuels, CHEST 41:68-74, 1962
1969 Issue of JAMA Internal Medicine, JAMA Internal Medicine, jamanetwork.com/jounals/jamainternalmedicine/issue/124/1
Pulmonary Edema of Environmental Origin, US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health , PMID: 4579705, 1973
Newer concepts in managing pulmonary fat embolism, Geriatrics (Basel, Switzerland) 29(6):115-6, May 1974
Newer Concepts in the Management of Environmental Pulmonary Edema, Angiology vol. 25 9: pp. 590-601, Sep 1974.
Pulmonary Amyloidoma and Hilar Adenopathy. Rare manifestations of primary amyloidosis, CHEST 76(2):170-3., August 1979
Pulmonary manifestations of vinyl and polyvinyl chloride, Cleveland Clinic quarterly, January 1979
Industrial technology includes hazardous inhalants, Occupational health & safety (Waco, Tex.) 49(2):42-4, March 1980
Aortobronchial Fistula: Keys to Successful Management, Angiology 31(6):431-5, July 1980
Pulmonary manifestations of vinyl and polyvinyl chloride (interstitial lung disease). Newer aspects, CHEST 78(6):828-34, January 1981
Unilateral hyperlucent lung. Non-invasive diagnosis of pulmonary artery agenesis, Angiology 32(3):194-207., March 1981
Upper Extremity Thrombosis: Etiology and Prognosis, Angiology 33(11):743-55, December 1982
Acute Pulmonary Edema with Respiratory Failure—Newer Concepts in Therapy, Angiology, October 1982
Pulmonary mechanical ventilation at home: a reasonable and less expensive alternative,Respiratory care 28(1):42-9, February 1983
Clinical considerations in the implementation of home care ventilation: Observations in 24 patients, Cleveland Clinic quarterly 50(2):219-25, February 1983
Pulmonary lymphangiomyomatosis, CHEST 85(6):796-9, July 1984
Improved evaluation of pulmonary disease with gallium-67 emission tomography, Cleveland Clinic quarterly 52(4):525-31, February 1985, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 27(9):675, September 1985
Transdermal Scopolamine in the Treatment of Asthma: A Preliminary Report, Journal of Asthma 23(4):203-6, February 1986
Home care ventilation: The Cleveland Clinic experience from 1977 to 1985, Respiratory care 31(4):294-302, May 1986
Pulmonary edema of environmental origin Newer Concepts, Angiology 37(6):440-7, July 1986
An angiographic dilemma: Bronchopulmonary sequestration versus pseudosequestration: Case reports, Angiology 37(12 Pt 1):896-904, January 1987
Hyperventilation syndrome and asthma, The American Journal of Medicine 81(6):989-94, January 1987
Pulmonary Physiology in Clinical Practice, Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 55(3):284-285, May 1988
Lymphangiomyomatosis Newer Concepts in Pathogenesis and Management—Case Reports, Angiology 41(11):957-63, December 1990
The effects of steroid therapy on pulmonary hypertension secondary to fibrosing medi-astinitis, Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 57(7):647-52, November 1990
Clinical features of the yellow nail syndrome, Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 57(5):472-6, July 1990
Diagnostic Methods in Critical Care, Automated Data Collections and Interpretation, Critical Care Medicine 18(5), May 1990
Multiplane gallium tomography in assessment of occupational chest diseases, American Journal of Industrial Medicine 17(3):285-97, January 1990
Reactive airways dysfunction syndrome: a subset of occupational asthma, Disability 1: 23–39, 1990
Use of hazardline in clinical practice – newer concepts, ICOH, 1990
Bronchoscopically induced bleeding. A summary of nine years' Cleveland clinic experience and review of the literature, CHEST 100(4):1141-7, November 1991
Fatal Mistaken Identity, The American review of respiratory disease 144(2):469-70, September 1991
Spontaneous resolution of endobronchial Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection in a patient with AIDS, CHEST 98(6):1540-2, January 1991
Quantitation of Anbornal 67GA Uptake in Pulmonary Interstitial Vascular Disease A New Test to Detect Diffuse Lung Disease, Angiology 41(12):1023-8, January 1991
Concentric Tracheal and Subglottic Stenosis: Management Using the Nd-YAG Laser for Mucosal Sparing Followed by Gentle Dilatation, CHEST 104(3):673-7, September 1993
Environmental Respiratory Diseases, John Wiley & Sons, Press, October 1994
Other important and widely encountered chemicals, Occupational Medicine Third Edition :661-718, January 1994
Noncardiac Pulmonary Edema, Newer Environmental Aspects: An Update, Angiology 46(9):759-66, October 1995
Toxic Pulmonary Edema, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Volume 38 - Issue 4 - p 427, April 1996, Angiology 46(9):759-66, October 1995
Environmental pulmonary edema: An update, Reviews on Environmental Health 13(1-2):27-57, January 1998
Permanent respiratory impairment and upper airway symptoms despite clinical improvement in patients with reactive airways dysfunction syndrome, Science of The Total Environment 270(1-3):49-55, May 2001
Platelet-Rich Plasma and the Upper Extremity, Skeletal Radiology, 2012
Angiograms, Laminagrams, and Lung Scans in Emphysema, JAMA Internal Medicine, May 2013