Preface

Philippe Gaspard lived this story from its very beginning.

At a time when the majority of the cardiology community was expressing negative critiques, Philippe immediately understood that the future would be built by passing “from a contemplative to an active medicine”.

Returning to the facts behind this evolution, he illuminates for us the different stages of this incredible story, allowing us to “to relive this invention day-by-day”.

In doing this, Philippe Gaspard offers us a timely and exacting analysis of what took place, highlighted by his characteristic intellectual honesty. The clinical history is accompanied by those small anecdotes with which these “dreams” and “crazy ideas” evolved – even while the majority of cardiologists continued to say “this will never work”. This book succinctly illustrates the exacting steps that have produced the incredible clinical results obtained by coronary angioplasty, and follows in detail the different stages necessary between the idea of “breaking new ground” to becoming the “transformative approach” it is today for our patients with obstructive atheromas of their coronary arteries.

Always accessible and highly readable, it offers us this evolution without making critical judgments, by allowing the reader to enter into the story and I highly recommend that all...