Coronary angiography historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Coronary catheterization was introduced in 1929 when the German physician Dr. Werner Forssmann inserted a plastic tube in his cubital vein and guided it to the right chamber of the heart. He took an x-ray to prove his success and published it on November 5 1929 with the title "Über die Sondierung des rechten Herzens" (About probing of the right heart). The coronary catheterization of the left heart was introduced in the late 1950s, and the first report appeared in 1960 (Sones & Shirey). The first case of coronary catheterization was serendipitous: Sones, a pediatric cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, accidentally injected radiocontrast in the coronary artery instead of the left ventricle. Although the patient had a reversible cardiac arrest, Sones and Shirey developed the procedure further, and are credited with the discovery (Connolly 2002); they published a series of 1,000 patients in 1966 (Proudfit et al).

Since the late 1970s, building on the pioneering work of Charles Dotter in 1964 and especially Andreas Gruentzig starting in 1977, coronary catheterization has been extended to more important uses: (a) the performance of less invasive physical treatment for angina and some of the complications of severe atherosclerosis, (b) treating heart attacks before complete damage has occurred and (c) research for better understanding of the pathology of coronary artery disease and atherosclerosis.