Cardiac catheterization historical perspective

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

The history of cardiac catheterization dates back to Claude Bernard (1813-1878), who used it on animal models. Clinical application of cardiac catheterization begins with Werner Forssmann in the 1930s, who inserted a catheter into the vein of his own forearm, guided it fluoroscopically into his right atrium, and took an X-ray picture of it. Forssmann won the Nobel Prize for this achievement. During World War II, André Frédéric Cournand and his colleagues developed techniques for left and right heart catheterization.

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