early 20th century, rheumatic heart disease made up the majority of clinical cardiology work: congenital heart defects were considered hopeless curiosities as the surgical means to correct them were extremely undeveloped so relatively little could be done to prevent the early deaths of patients with these conditions. She then was hired by the pediatric department of Johns Hopkins, the Harriet Lane Home, as its chief, where she served from 1930 until 1963. Taussig made use of fluoroscopy as a diagnostic tool, and developed a particular interest in infants with cyanosis (blue-tinged appearance), often caused by the heart defect Tetralogy of Fallot. Cyanosis is caused when insufficient oxygenated blood is circulating around the body; in infants it can be known as "blue baby syndrome". Taussig is most remembered for her role in the development of a surgical treatment for this condition, the Blalock-Thomas-Taussig shunt. A new surgery first performed in 1939 by Robert Gross corrected a common pediatric heart problem: patent ductus arteriosus. The ductus arteriosus is a small blood vessel connecting the pulmonary artery to the aorta of a foetus. Since the foetus obtains oxygen via the mother's placenta and not via its own lungs, which are fluid-filled and not yet functional, this vessel provides a shortcut, bypassing the lungs and allowing more efficient delivery of oxygenated blood around the foetus' body. In most infants, the ductus arteriosus closes within a few weeks of birth so that blood flows to the lungs to be oxygenated; if it remains open or 'patent', the normal flow of blood is disrupted. This new surgical procedure artificially closed the blood vessel. While this was going on, Taussig observed that infants with cyanotic heart defects such as Tetralogy of Fallot or pulmonary atresia often fared remarkably better if they also had a patent ductus arteriosus, with less severe symptoms and longer survival. In general, cyanotic symptoms would often begin or worsen shortly after birth, a change which Taussig suspected was caused by the natural closure of the ductus arteriosus. In cyanotic children, bloodflow from the heart to the lungs via the pulmonary artery is often compromised; Taussig thought that surgically creating an artificial ductus linking these two vessels could increase bloodflow to the lungs and alleviate this problem, increasing survival. She broached the idea to Robert Gross, and he was skeptical, reportedly telling her ""I have enough trouble closing the ductus arteriosus. I certainly don't