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History Center
PTCA: A History
This video history of interventional cardiology presents the story of angioplasty: from its first use in the peripheral vessels by Charles Dotter in 1964, through skepticism and rejection in the U.S., its rebirth in Europe at the hands of Eberhard Zeitler and others, and its ultimate refinement for use in the coronary arteries by Andreas Gruentzig in 1977.

The video offers a documentary record of a compelling and sometimes eccentric tale of personal vision and scientific innovation.

Not long ago, the concept of placing a catheter down the coronary artery was considered madness by most.

Early Balloon Catheter

 Observers and participants share their accounts of a time when the first angioplasty balloon catheters were manufactured by hand on a kitchen table in Zurich by "the group of four": Andreas Gruentzig, his assistant and their spouses.
kitchen table
Maria Schlumpf,
in Zurich Kitchen (1975)
You will glimpse the fear, excitement and triumph of the first PTCA, as told by the people who were in the room, including the first patient himself, Mr. Adolph Bachmann. (View a video clip of "The First Angioplasty.") first patient
demonstration course-Zurich 1980 Finally the film tells of the building momentum and careful efforts to develop, shepherd and protect the integrity of this breakthrough technology, and explores the implications of this history in today's highly competitive healthcare climate.

PTCA: A HISTORY runs 72 minutes and combines personal photos, rare films and over two dozen interviews. Uniquely constructed, there is no narrator "telling the viewer what happened": the history is told entirely in first person accounts by the participants themselves!

The following individuals appear in "PTCA: A History": John Abele, David Auth, Adolph Bachmann, Joe Brown, Heliane Canepa, William Casarella MD, Andreas R. Gruentzig MD, Geoffrey O. Hartzler MD, J. Willis Hurst MD, Spencer B. King III MD, Martin B. Leon MD, Bruno Lorenzetti, Bernhard Meier MD, Richard K. Myler MD, Manfred Robinson, Enid Ruble, Richard Schatz MD, Maria Schlumpf, Patrick W. Serruys MD, C. Richard Stueve RT, Paul Yock MD, Eberhard Zeitler MD.

You can now purchase this DVD online.

 video stills

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