OTHER PIONEERS IN THE FIELD OF INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY

8 OTHER PIONEERS IN THE FIELD OF INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY By: Nadine Absy

It is well established that Dotter fathered the concept of interventional radiology, with that being said, it is noteworthy to mention that many other physicians who have carried forward the idea and developed it more intricately, this section will tackle some of their contributions.

The first to coin the procedures as ‘interventional’ was Alexander Margulis, who also highlighted that these procedures required special training and extensive knowledge in certain topics.

Dotter’s ideas paved the way for many inventive angiographers to develop new interventional techniques; amongst those a German physician named Werner Porstman who developed a technique that involves the percutaneous closure of the patent ductus and John Doppman who was the first to use embolization to treat vascular malformations and tumours. Kurt Amplatz and Caesar Gianturco also helped radicalise IR by developing vital new tools used till this day for intervention.

Notably, Andreas Grüntzig, a german radiologist and cardiologist introduced the major revolution in PTA by developing successful balloon angioplasty, and you can be left to imagine how many patients’ lives were affected by the development of this procedure. An essential pivot in the expansion of IR was the relationship between interventionists and device manufacturers, amongst the latter were Bill Cook and John Abele.