Bollinger Alfred, Schlumpf Maria
Professor Emeritus for Vascular Medicine, Angiology Division, University of Zurich, Truebelstrasse 31, CH-8712 Staefa, Switzerland.
J Invasive Cardiol. 2008 Mar;20(3):E85-7.
In 1969, German-born Andreas Grntzig joined the Angiology Division at the Zurich University Hospital. He participated in the evaluation of continuous Doppler ultrasound in peripheral arterial and venous disease and discovered that the relaxation phase of the Achilles tendon reflex is prolonged during calf pain due to intermittent claudication. Soon he became interested in Dotter's technique of peripheral transluminal angioplasty (PTA) with coaxial catheters, learned the procedure from Eberhard Zeitler and developed a new balloon catheter consisting of polyvinyl chloride. He wanted to improve the results of PTA in intermittent claudication, rest pain and incipient gangrene and to minimize their complications. In February 1974 he successfully performed the first treatment in a patient with femoral artery stenosis. The catheter used had been built by him, Maria Schlumpf and their team on his kitchen table. One year later, he introduced a double-lumen version that was much easier to manipulate. The 242 patients with iliac or femoro-popliteal artery obstructions treated by Andreas Gr untzig himself were prospectively followed by Maria Schlumpf at regular intervals. The patency rate at 15 years was 82% in iliac PTA. Because of common recurrent occlusions, the corresponding number in femoral disease reached only 46%. The favorable early and late results of PTA with prototypes and early commercial products were a prerequisite for the development and first clinical application of Gr untzig's coronary balloon catheter.
