ABSTRACT
History When Andreas Gruentzig1 performed the first human percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in September 1977, a milestone in the treatment of cardiovascular disease was established. The pioneering and courageous work of Forssmann in 1929 ushered in the era of percutaneous cardiac catheterization when he inserted a catheter into his own right atrium via the left basilic vein in seeking ‘a safer approach for intracardiac drug injection’.2
Cardiac catheters were first used for diagnostic purposes in 1941 by Cournand3,4 and Richards5 and were later developed for selective coronary angiography by Sones6,7 and Judkins.8 In1964, catheters were used by Dotter for mechanical ‘dilation’ of stenoses in peripheral arteries.9-12 While a combination of complications and scepticism continued to roughen the diamond, other workers, notably Zeitler and Schoop in Europe, continued to probe the possibilities contained within the therapeutic envelope.13-15
