Michael E. DeBakey, a world-famous cardiovascular surgeon who pioneered such now-common procedures as bypass surgery and invented a host of devices to help heart patients died at the age of 99.

US President George W. Bush (L) watches the Congressional Gold Medal ceremony awarding the nation's highest civilian honor to Dr. Michael Ellis DeBakey (2nd L) in the Capitol rotunda on Capitol Hill in this April 23, 2008 file photo. DeBakey, whose ground-breaking heart transplants and coronary bypass operations made him one of the giants of 20th century medicine, died of natural causes on July 11, 2008 at the age of 99. Also attending the event are Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV).(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

DeBakey died of "natural causes" shortly after arriving at the hospital Friday night in Houston, according to a statement issued by the Baylor College of Medicine and Methodist Hospital. The hospital's heart and vascular center bears his name. DeBakey, whose career spanned more than 70 years, counted world leaders among his patients and helped turn Baylor from a provincial school into one of the nation's great medical institutions.

"Dr. DeBakey's reputation brought many people into this institution, and he treated them all: heads of state, entertainers, businessmen and presidents, as well as people with no titles and no means," said Ron Girotto, president of the Methodist Hospital System.

When DeBakey pushed forward with his groundbreaking research and approach to medicine a half century ago, heart surgery was a medical marvel.

Today, in part because of his contributions, it routinely saves thousands of lives each day.

In April, at an ceremony in Washington in which DeBakey was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, Congress' highest civilian honor, President George W. Bush said the award placed the surgeon in the company of inventor Thomas Edison, Army doctor Walter Reed and Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine.

"His legacy is holding the fragile and sacred gift of human life in his hands and returning it unbroken," Bush said at the time.

Among DeBakey's patients were presidents Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, the Shah of Iran, King Hussein of Jordan, Turkish President Turgut Ozal and Nicaraguan leader Violetta Chamorro.

But he said celebrities don't get special treatment on the operating table: "Once you incise the skin, you find that they are all very similar."

Born to Lebanese immigrants on Sept. 7, 1908, in Lake Charles, La., DeBakey received his bachelor's and medical degrees from Tulane University in New Orleans.

(Agencies via Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2008)