Foreword

This book captures an evolution in medicine that began many decades ago, and which flourished in the hands of the gifted, first practitioner of interventional medicine as we know it today, Andreas Grüntzig. It is an honor and pleasure for PCR, which in a very real sense is a direct descendent of that evolution, to present this work to you.

Interventional cardiology is a relatively young specialty and yet we have our founding myths and our Homeric heroes. Still, it is important to emphasize – for those whose careers were just beginning when our specialty was formed or those who came after – that these myths, like all founding myths, have a certain basis in reality. In our busy professional lives, it is important to remember that the development and evolution of the medicine we practice today depended on individuals like ourselves who, through a combination of education, innovation, chance opportunities and courage, advanced our work. Indeed, our heroes were very real, made up of the same flesh and blood as ourselves and the patients that they – and we today – serve.

Knowledge and clinical skills are useless if they are not transmitted effectively. Clinical progress can only occur...