Cardiology History

Milestones for Cardiology

 Cardiology History

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  There are many significant advances in the study of the heart. Following is a sampling of some of the most significant advances: In 1628, Englishman William Henry studied and released his findings on circulation. In 1733, Stephen Hales created a way to measure blood pressure which helped doctors to better evaluate how hard a patient's heart is working. In 1816, the French doctor Rene T.H. Laennec invented the stethoscope. It was in 1952 when the first open heart surgery took place, 1967 marked the first whole heart transplant and in 1982, the first permanent artificial heart was implanted into a patient.

  
  
  1628  William Harvey, an English Physician, first describes blood circulation.
  1706  Raymond de Vieussens, a French anatomy professor, first describes the structure of the heart's chambers and vessels.
  1733  Stephen Hales, an English clergyman and scientist, first measures blood pressure.
  1816  Rene T. H. Laennec, a French physician, invents the stethoscope.
  1903  Willem Einthoven, a Dutch physiologist, develops the electrocardiograph.
  1912  James B. Herrick, an American physician, first describes heart disease resulting from hardening of the arteries.
  1938  Robert E. Gross, an American surgeon, performs first heart surgery.
  1951  Charles Hufnagel, an American surgeon, develops a plastic valve to repair an aortic valve.
  1952  F. John Lewis, an American surgeon, performs first successful open heart surgery.
  1953  John H. Gibbon, an American surgeon, first uses a mechanical heart and blood purifier.
  1961  J. R. Jude, an American cardiologist, leads a team performing the first external cardiac massage to restart a heart.
  1965  Michael DeBakey and Adrian Kantrowitz, American surgeons, implant mechanical devices to help a diseased heart.
  1967  Christiaan Barnard, a South African surgeon, performs the first whole heart transplant from one person to another.
  1982  Willem DeVries, an American surgeon, implants a permanent artificial heart, designed by Robert Jarvik, an American physician, into a patient.
  
  As the center focus of cardiology, the heart has numerous anatomical features (e.g., atria, ventricles, heart valves) and numerous physiological features (e.g., systole, heart sounds, afterload) that have been encyclopedically documented for many centuries.
  
  Disorders of the heart lead to heart disease and cardiovascular disease and can lead to a significant number of deaths: cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death and caused 29.34% of all deaths in 2002.[citation needed]
  
  The primary responsibility of the heart is to pump blood throughout the body. It pumps blood from the body — called the systemic circulation — through the lungs — called the pulmonary circulation — and then back out to the body. This means that the heart is connected to and affects the entirety of the body. Simplified, the heart is a circuit of the Circulation. While plenty is known about the healthy heart, the bulk of study in cardiology is in disorders of the heart and restoration, and where possible, of function.
  
  The heart is a muscle that squeezes blood and functions like a pump. Each part of the heart is susceptible to failure or dysfunction and the heart can be divided into the mechanical and the electrical parts.
  
  The electrical part of the heart is centered on the periodic contraction (squeezing) of the muscle cells that is caused by the cardiac pacemaker located in the sinoatrial node. The study of the electrical aspects is a sub-field of electrophysiology called cardiac electrophysiology and is epitomized with the electrocardiogram (ECG/EKG). The action potentials generated in the pacemaker propagate throughout the heart in a specific pattern. The system that carries this potential is called the electrical conduction system. Dysfunction of the electrical system manifests in many ways and may include Wolff–Parkinson–White syndrome, ventricular fibrillation, and heart block.
  
  1953 was a very successful year for cardiological advances. Both local anesthesia and the first heart-lung machine were introduced. The heart-lung machine takes the place of the heart, allowing doctors to operate more intensively and for a longer period of time. The very next year, the first cordless and battery powered pacemaker debuted. This led the way to, in 1958, the first implanted pacemaker. It failed in less than 4 hours. When the procedure was repeated, it did not fail until two days later. Pacemakers now can last for years.