Key Moments in Cardiology History
Click the year or decade below to view its content.
1800s
-
In 1896, Frankfurt's Ludwig Rehn performs the first successful heart
surgery, closing a stab wound to the heart in a young man with pericardial
tamponade.
1920s
-
1923
Harvard's Elliot Cutler, collaborating with cardiologist
Samuel
Levine, performs the first successful mitral commisurotomy using apical
mattress sutures. The patient survived for four years after surgery.
-
1925
London's Henry Souttar inserted his index finger into the atrium
through
the appendage to perform commisurotomy. He never performed another case because doctors
refused to refer cases.
-
1929
Werner Forssmann performs right heart catheterization on
himself.
-
After seven additional mitral commisurotomy patients died, Elliot
Cutler
declares a moratorium on his procedure.
1930
-
Prague's Otto Klein, unaware of Forssmann's research performs 11
right
heart catheterizations in patients, and records cardiac output measurements, which he
publishes in Munchener medizinische Wochenschrift.
-
Maude Abbott, MD invented an international classification system for
congenital heart disease, which became the definitive reference guide to the
subject.
1940s
-
1941
Andre Cournand and Dickinson Richards develop
cardiac
hemodynamics and angiography as a diagnostic technique.
-
1943
Myra Adele Logan, MD becomes the first woman to operate on a human
heart.
-
1944
Surgeon Alfred Blalock, cardiologist Helen B.
Taussig,
and lab assistant Vivien Thomas anastamose the subclavian artery to the
pulmonary artery as a palliative surgical treatment of Tetralogy of Fallot.
-
Helen B. Taussig, MD, FACC developed the operation to correct the
congenital heart defect that causes "blue baby" syndrome. This achievement led to her
being
known as the founder of pediatric cardiology.
-
1945
At Blalock's urging, Richard Bing establishes the nation's first
cardiac
catheterization laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed soon thereafter by
Lewis Dexter at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.
-
1946
Dwight Harken announces to the medical establishment that he has
shattered a two millennia old taboo by successfully operating on the hearts of injured
soldiers during the latter stages of World War II.
-
1947
Claude Beck performs successful intraoperative defibrillation during
surgery on a 14-year-old boy with pectus excavatum.
-
1948
Charles Bailey successfully opens a severely stenosed mitral valve
using
the finger-fracture technique.
-
Framingham heart study is initiated.
1950s
-
1950
Wilfred Bigelow describes recovery from open heart surgery during
hypothermia in dogs.
-
John Gofman uses ultracentrifugation to identify low-density
lipoprotein
cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol molecules, and reports elevated
LDL-C
in patients with myocardial infarction.
-
1951
Benedict Cassen invents a rectilinear radionuclide scanner capable of
detecting pericardial effusion and pulmonary embolism.
-
Charles Hufnagel inserts a ball-in-cage valve into the aorta as a
treatment of aortic vaIve disease.
-
1952
Paul Zoll paces the heart of 65-year-old man with end-stage coronary
disease, complete heart block and recurrent cardiac arrest.
-
F. John Lewis and C. Walton Lillehei perform the
first
successful open heart surgery using hypothermia.
-
1953
Inge Edler and his physicist friend Earl Hertz
describe
M-mode echocardiography.
-
John Gibbon, in collaboration with IBM engineers, develops the
heart-lung
machine and repairs an atrial septal defect in an 18-year-old.
-
1956
Forssmann, Cournand, and Richards share the Nobel
Prize.
In his acceptance speech Cournand says, 'The cardiac catheter was ... the key in the
lock.”
-
Paul Zoll successfully defibrillates a patient with ventricular
fibrillation using external shock.
-
Olga M. Haring, MD, FACC becomes the first female Fellow of the
American
College of Cardiology (FACC).
Above image used with permission of Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine,
Galter Health Sciences Library, Chicago, IL, USA.
-
1957
Paul Zoll successfully defibrillates a patient with ventricular
fibrillation using external shock.
-
Hematologist Sol Sherry Infuses streptokinase in patients with acute
myocardial infarction, but his results are Ignored.
-
Peter Safar publishes the book ABC of Resuscitation.
See More Key Moments
Click the year or decade below to view its content.
1800s
-
In 1896, Frankfurt's Ludwig Rehn performs the first successful
heart
surgery, closing a stab wound to the heart in a young man with pericardial
tamponade.
1920s
-
1923
Harvard's Elliot Cutler, collaborating with cardiologist
Samuel
Levine, performs the first successful mitral commisurotomy using apical
mattress sutures. The patient survived for four years after surgery.
-
1925
London's Henry Souttar inserted his index finger into the atrium
through
the appendage to perform commisurotomy. He never performed another case because
doctors
refused to refer cases.
-
1929
Werner Forssmann performs right heart catheterization on
himself.
-
After seven additional mitral commisurotomy patients died, Elliot
Cutler
declares a moratorium on his procedure.
1930
-
Prague's Otto Klein, unaware of Forssmann's research performs 11
right
heart catheterizations in patients, and records cardiac output measurements, which
he
publishes in Munchener medizinische Wochenschrift.
-
Maude Abbott, MD invented an international classification system
for
congenital heart disease, which became the definitive reference guide to the
subject.
1940s
-
1941
Andre Cournand and Dickinson Richards develop
cardiac
hemodynamics and angiography as a diagnostic technique.
-
1943
Myra Adele Logan, MD becomes the first woman to operate on a
human
heart.
-
1944
Surgeon Alfred Blalock, cardiologist Helen B.
Taussig,
and lab assistant Vivien Thomas anastamose the subclavian artery to
the
pulmonary artery as a palliative surgical treatment of Tetralogy of Fallot.
-
Helen B. Taussig, MD, FACC developed the operation to correct the
congenital heart defect that causes "blue baby" syndrome. This achievement led to
her being
known as the founder of pediatric cardiology.
-
1945
At Blalock's urging, Richard Bing establishes the nation's first
cardiac
catheterization laboratory at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed soon thereafter by
Lewis Dexter at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital.
-
1946
Dwight Harken announces to the medical establishment that he has
shattered a two millennia old taboo by successfully operating on the hearts of
injured
soldiers during the latter stages of World War II.
-
1947
Claude Beck performs successful intraoperative defibrillation
during
surgery on a 14-year-old boy with pectus excavatum.
-
1948
Charles Bailey successfully opens a severely stenosed mitral
valve using
the finger-fracture technique.
-
Framingham heart study is initiated.
1950s
-
1950
Wilfred Bigelow describes recovery from open heart surgery during
hypothermia in dogs.
-
John Gofman uses ultracentrifugation to identify low-density
lipoprotein
cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol molecules, and reports elevated
LDL-C
in patients with myocardial infarction.
-
1951
Benedict Cassen invents a rectilinear radionuclide scanner
capable of
detecting pericardial effusion and pulmonary embolism.
-
Charles Hufnagel inserts a ball-in-cage valve into the aorta as a
treatment of aortic vaIve disease.
-
1952
Paul Zoll paces the heart of 65-year-old man with end-stage
coronary
disease, complete heart block and recurrent cardiac arrest.
-
F. John Lewis and C. Walton Lillehei perform the
first
successful open heart surgery using hypothermia.
-
1953
Inge Edler and his physicist friend Earl Hertz
describe
M-mode echocardiography.
-
John Gibbon, in collaboration with IBM engineers, develops the
heart-lung
machine and repairs an atrial septal defect in an 18-year-old.
-
1956
Forssmann, Cournand, and Richards share the
Nobel Prize.
In his acceptance speech Cournand says, 'The cardiac catheter was ... the key in the
lock.”
-
Paul Zoll successfully defibrillates a patient with ventricular
fibrillation using external shock.
-
Olga M. Haring, MD, FACC becomes the first female Fellow of the
American
College of Cardiology (FACC).
Above image used with permission of Northwestern University, Feinberg School of
Medicine,
Galter Health Sciences Library, Chicago, IL, USA.
-
1957
Paul Zoll successfully defibrillates a patient with ventricular
fibrillation using external shock.
-
Hematologist Sol Sherry Infuses streptokinase in patients with
acute
myocardial infarction, but his results are Ignored.
-
Peter Safar publishes the book ABC of Resuscitation.
1960s
-
1960
Engineer Wilson Greatbach and his surgical collaborator
William
Chardack Implant a pacemaker In 10 patients. The device is licensed to
Medtronic.
-
William Kouwenhoven and James Jude lead a team
that
develops the methods of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
-
Albert Starr Implants a mechanical ball-In-cage valve prosthesis
in the
mitral position.
-
Technetlum-99m allows real-time Imaging of radiotracers circulating through the
heart.
-
1961
Norman Shumway and Richard Lower perform cardiac
transplantation in animals.
-
Sweden's Ake Sennlng reports a case In which he uses a patch
graft on the
coronary artery.
-
1962
Hughes Day opens a coronary care unit at Bethany Hospital in
Kansas
City.
-
1963
Harvey Feigenbaum uses an ultrasonic neurologic device to
identify
pericardial effusion and coins the term 'echocardiography.”
-
The use of an Implantable atrioventricular synchronous pacemaker is described in
the
American Journal of Cardiology.
-
1964
James Black develops propranolol, the first speclfic
β-adrenergic
receptor blocking agent.
-
Charles Dotter and Melvin Judkins develop a
method for
forcing open iliofemoral stenosis using a set of rigid dilators.
-
Drs. Garrett, Dennis, and DeBakey perform the
first
successful saphenous vein bypass surgery; but uncertain of its outcome, do not
publish the
case until 1973.
-
Helen B. Taussig, MD, FACC received the Medal of Freedom from
President
Lyndon B. Johnson.
-
1965
Michael DeBakey and Adrian Kantrowitz implant
mechanical
devices to help a diseased heart.
-
Helen B. Taussig, MD, FACC becomes the first female president of
the
American Heart Association.
-
1967
Rene Favaloro initiates the era of saphenous vein coronary bypass
surgery.
-
Christiaan Barnard performs the first human cardiac
transplant.
-
Melvln Judkins introduces his coronary angiography
catheter.
1970s
-
1970
M. Ondetti and co-workers at Squibb Pharmaceuticals design the
angiotensin converting enzyme captopril.
-
1971
R.G. Gosling reports the first transesophageal continuous wave
Doppler
recording of cardiac flow velocity.
-
1972
Scientists at Sanofi Pharmaceuticals l synthesize thienopyridines, leading to the
development of clopidogrel.
-
1973
H. William Strauss performs the first exercise stress myocardial
perfusion exam.
-
1974
Edith Irby Jones, MD helped to found the Association of Black
Cardiologists.
-
1976
Aklra Endo reports his discovery of an HMA Co-A reductase
Inhibitor
capable of lowering blood cholesterol levels.
-
Leon Frazin describes first transesophageal
echocardiography.
-
Yevgenly Chazov describes thrombolysis in acute myocardial
Infarction.
-
James Forrester describes the hemodynamic management of acute
myocardial
infarction using the Swan-Ganz balloon catheter.
-
1977
Andreas Gruentzig performs the first successful human coronal
balloon
angioplasty on patient Adolph Bachman.
-
Jacqueline Noonan, MD, FACC becomes the first female governor of
an ACC
Chapter (Kentucky).
-
1979
Geoffrey Hartzler performs first coronary angioplasty in acute
myocardial
Infarction.
1980s
-
1980
Eugene Braunwald completes the writing of his classic book:
Heart
Disease, a Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine.
-
Marcus DeWood describes the presence of coronary thrombi in
patients
undergoing surgery immediately after the onset of acute myocardial
Infarction.
-
Norman Shumway initiates the modern era of cardiac
transplantation, using
cyclosporine to suppress immune rejection.
-
Angioplasty-guiding catheters are introduced.
-
Michel Mirowski publishes Termination of Malignant
Ventricular
Arrhythmias with an Implanted Automatic Defibrillator in Human
Beings.
-
1981
Helen B. Taussig, MD, FACC becomes the first woman to be selected
for
ACC's gifted educator award.
-
1982
John Vane receives the Nobel Prize for elucidating the actions of
prostaglandins and aspirin over the two prior decades.
-
A permanent artificial heart designed by Robert Jarvik is
implanted in a
human by William De Vries.
-
Melvin Scheinman and John Gallagher publish
Transvenous Catheter Technique for Ablation of the Atrioventricular Conduction
System.
-
Over-the-wire coaxial balloon systems and steerable guide wires are developed for
angioplasty.
-
1983
Recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, developed by Genentech, is used to
dissolve
thrombus in seven patients with acute myocardial Infarction.
-
1985
The pioneers of coronary angiography and angioplasty, Dotter, Sones,
Judkins, and Gruentzig all pass away within nine
months of
each other.
-
1986
Ulrich Sigwart and Jacques Puel, working
separately,
implant the first coronary stents In Lausanne, Switzerland and Toulouse,
France.
-
Alain Cribier reports successful balloon aortic valvuloplasty as
an
alternative to surgery.
-
The Gruppo ltaliano per lo Studio della Strepochinasi nell'lnfarto Miocardio
(GISSI)
randomized trial shows that Intravenous streptokinase Improves survival in acute
myocardial
Infarction.
-
The Women In Thoracic Surgery Organization was founded.
-
Suzanne B. Knoebel, MD, MACC becomes the first woman to receive
ACC's
distinguished fellow award.
1990s
-
1990
The International Human Genome Project begins.
-
1991
Bernadine Healy, MD, FACC becomes the first woman to direct the
National
Institutes of Health.
-
1992
Bernadine Healy, MD, FACC is the first woman to be recognized for
her
distinguished seivice by the ACC.
-
Airlie A. C. Cameron, MD, FACC becomes first female president of
Society
for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions.
-
Ruth Collins-Nakai, MD, MACC becomes the first woman chair of the
Board
of Governors.
-
1993
The American Heart Association's Women in Cardiology Committee is
established.
-
1994
The coronary stent co-invented by Julio Palmaz and
Richard
Schatz is approved for use in the United States.
-
Merck reports the results of the landmark randomized 4S trial of simvastatin with
40
percent reduction in cardiac mortality overs years.
-
1998
Suzanne B. Knoebel, MD, MACC becomes the first woman president
and Master
of theACC (MACC).
-
The WIC Section's Professional Life Survey is published for the first time in the
Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
-
Nancy Dickey, MD is inaugurated as the first female president of
the
American Medical Association.
2000s
-
2000
Elizabeth O. Ofili, MBBS, MPH, FACC becomes the first woman
president of
the Association of Black Cardiologists.
-
2002
Alain Cribier performs the first percutaneous transcatheter
implantation
of an aortic valve prosthesis for calcific aortic stenosis.
-
2003
The first drug-eluting stent, the Cypher, manufactured by Johnson &
Johnson/Cordis, Is
approved for use in the United States.
-
The first drug-eluting stent, the Cypher, manufactured by Johnson &
Johnson/Cordis, Is
approved for use in the United States.
-
2004
The Women
in
Cardiology (WIC) Section holds its first Section meeting on Nov. 8 in New
Orleans at
AHA 2004.
-
2005
The British Cardiovascular Society's (BCS) Women in Cardiology Committee was
established.
-
The ACC officially launches the WIC Member Section.
-
The WIC Virtual Mentorship Program launches on ACC's website.
-
Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD becomes the first woman director of the
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
-
2006
The first WIC Global Women's Breakfast takes place at ACC.06.
-
The WIC Visiting Professor Program launches with visits to six internal medicine
programs
in its first year.
-
2007
Jane W. Newburger, MD, MPH, FACC is the first woman awarded ACC's
distinguished scientist award.
-
ACC holds its first Women's Career and Professional Development Program.
-
2009
Nanette Kass Wenger, MD, MACC is named as ACC's first woman
distinguished
mentor.
2010s
-
2012
First reports of experimental percutaneous mitral valve replacement appear.
-
2013
The first WIC Section Advocacy Workshop is held at ACC's Legislative
Conference.
-
2015
Sarah Clarke, MD, FACC becomes the first female president of the
BCS.
-
The WIC Section celebrates its 10th anniversary at ACC.15.
-
The first WIC Leadership Workshop is held at Heart House.
Sources: Forrester, James S. and Harold, John G., The Past is Prologue:
The American College of Cardiology
– 65 Years of Cardiovascular Innovation, 2014; Cardiology magazine.