He published several refinements to his procedure, including the first total removal of the duodenum in 1940, but he only performed a total of 37 operations.The discovery in the late 1930s that vitamin K prevented bleeding with jaundice, and the development of blood transfusion as an everyday process, both improved post-operative survival, but about 25% of people never left hospital alive as late as the 1970s. In the 1970s a group of American surgeons wrote urging that the procedure was too dangerous and should be abandoned. Since then outcomes in larger centers have improved considerably, and mortality from the operation is often less than 4%.In 2006 a report was published of a series of 1,000 consecutive pancreatico-duodenectomies performed by a single surgeon from Johns Hopkins Hospital between 1969 and 2003. The rate of these operations had increased steadily over this period, with only three of them before 1980, and the median operating time reduced from 8.8 hours in the 1970s to 5.5 hours in the 2000s, and mortality within 30 days or in hospital was only 1%. Another series of 2,050 operations at the Massachusetts General Hospital between 1941 and 2011 showed a similar picture of improvement. Research directions
Early-stage research on pancreatic cancer includes studies of genetics and early detection, treatment at different cancer stages, surgical strategies, and targeted therapies, such as inhibition of growth factors, immune therapies, and vaccines.
His natural size portrait and femur are still extant. His height was estimated to have been 247 cm (8 1"). Mary Ann Bevan (1874–1933), an English woman, who after developing acromegaly, toured the sideshow circuit as "the ugliest woman in the world". André the Giant (born André Roussimoff, 1946–1993), French professional wrestler and actor
Salvatore Baccaro (1932–1984), Italian character actor. Active in B-movies, comedies, and horrors because of his peculiar features and spontaneous sympathy
Paul Benedict (1938–2008), American actor. Best known for portraying Harry Bentley, The Jeffersons English next door neighbour
Big Show (born Paul Wight; 1972), American professional wrestler and actor, had his pituitary tumor removed in 1991. Eddie Carmel, born Oded Ha-Carmeili (1936–1972), Israeli-born entertainer with gigantism and acromegaly, popularly known as "The Jewish Giant"
Ted Cassidy (1932–1979), American actor. Best known for portraying Lurch in the TV sitcom The Addams Family
Rondo Hatton (1894–1946), American journalist and actor. A Hollywood favorite in B-movie horror films of the 1930s and 1940s. Hattons disfigurement, due to acromegaly, developed over time, beginning during his service in World War I.
Sultan Kösen, the worlds tallest man
Maximinus Thrax, Roman emperor (c.  173, reigned 235–238). Descriptions, as well as depictions, indicate acromegaly, though remains of his body are yet to be found. The Great Khali (born Dalip Singh Rana), Indian professional wrestler, is best known for his tenure with WWE. He had his pituitary tumor removed in 2012 at age 39.