A history of percutaneous coronary intervention

Updated on May 14, 2012
Michel Bertrand,

Summary

This chapter gives an account of the history of coronary interventional cardiology. After the performance of coronary angiography and the first effective surgical myocardial revascularisation, the first coronary angioplasty performed by Andreas Gruentzig in September 1977 was the beginning of an extraordinary saga of techniques developed to repair stenosed vessels and to prevent acute complications and restenosis.

The chapter includes a complete description of the pioneering work of Andreas Gruentzig and addresses the history of subsequent innovative techniques such as the long guidewire or Monorail techniques, directional atherectomy, rotablator, ROTACS, cutting balloon, brachytherapy and therapeutic ultrasound. The development of coronary stents from the bare metal era to that of drug-eluting stents is also detailed. Additional diagnostic tools in the realm of coronary angioplasty are mentioned where pertinent.

Therapeutic applications of cardiac and vascular catheterisation were introduced in the late 1970s. Percutaneous coronary interventions have been the centrepiece of interventional cardiology. The story started in 1977 with the pioneering work of Andreas Gruentzig and was followed by an explosion of exciting and innovative techniques, some of which were successfully applied to other fields of cardiovascular medicine (valvular disease, arrhythmias, congenital heart disease, carotid and other peripheral vascular disease) as well...

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