LifeForce Hospitals

Milestones in Cardiology

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.