Andreas Gruentzig’s second teaching course

Image courtesy of Maria Schlumpf

One year after the first PTCA, Andreas Grüntzig conducted the first live demonstration course, to share his experience. The first courses were held in Zurich and then at Emory University in Atlanta.

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Andreas Gruentzig’s second teaching course in Zurich 1980. Recognize anyone?

Extract from The Book - "The history of coronary angioplasty" by Philippe Gaspard and Holly Within

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Andreas Gruentzig’s second teaching course

1. Andreas Gruntzig

2. Maria Schlumpf

3. Mason Sones

4. Charles Dotter

5. Melvin Judkins

6. Hans Peter Krayenbuhl

7. Richard Myler

8. Simon Sterzer

9. Gerald Dorros

10. Eduardo Sousa

11. Jim Margolis

12. David Williams

13. Bernard Valeix

14. Bernard Meier

15. Charlotta Gruntzig

Video of first courses

Courtesy of Angioplasty.org

Andreas Gruentzig not only invented coronary angioplasty; he also invented the live demonstration course. Only months after performing the first PTCA, Gruentzig began welcoming visitors to Zurich.

These pioneers included Richard Myler, John Simpson, Simon Stertzer, Jean Marco, Spencer King and many others. At the last Zurich course in 1980, before he moved to Emory in Atlanta, Gruentzig also invited Charles Dotter, Mason Sones, and Melvin Judkins.

The video below includes home movies of that historical event, filmed by Gruentzig and his assistants.

Andreas Grüntzig

Andreas was born on June 25, 1939 in Dresden, East Germany. His vision and perspicacity drove an entire new field of cardiology.

Frank Mason Sones Jr (1918-85) graduated from the University of Maryland, USA. He learned the techniques of cardiac catheterization at the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Michigan, prior to joining the Cleveland Clinic in 1950.

C. Dotter become chief of the radiology department at Oregon State University (Corvallis, USA) at just 32 years old.

Melvin Paul Judkins (1923-85) came from a modest social background and worked to pay for his education.

Dr. Richard Myler was a pioneer in modern interventional cardiology and performed the first angioplasty in the United State on March 1, 1978.

Dr. Simon Stertzer is known for performing the first angioplasty in the United States in 1978 using the brachial approach.

Professor Meier served from 1992 until his retirement in 2015 as full Professor of Cardiology and Chairman of the Department of Cardiology at the Swiss Cardiovascular Center Bern at the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Andreas Gruentzig’s second teaching course

Image courtesy of Maria Schlumpf

Video of first courses

Courtesy of Angioplasty.org

Andreas Grüntzig

Frank Mason Sones Jr.

Charles Dotter

Melvin Paul Judkins

Richard Myler

Simon Stertzer

Bernhard Meier

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