The Heart Healers (64 page)

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Authors: James Forrester

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Today’s wireless pacemaker. Compare this device to the one used by Paul Zoll at the beginning of our story. Courtesy Dr. Eugenio Cingolani

The ECG recorded on the iPhone of a cardiac patient with whom I currently consult. He suffers from episodes of a common heart rhythm disorder (atrial fibrillation). The ECG is recorded by grasping two electrodes attached to the back of his phone, and can be immediately sent to me anywhere in the world, from anywhere in the world. Courtesy Dr. Alexander Dubelman

The transcatheter aortic valve. To allow insertion into an artery in the leg, the balloon is deflated and the valve is crimped onto the shaft. After the yellow tip facilitates valve positioning in the aorta, the balloon is inflated, forcing the valve into correct position. The balloon is deflated, and the catheter is withdrawn. Courtesy Edwards Laboratories

Enmeshed in the images of several monitoring devices, we see the catheter properly positioned (left), the balloon inflated to deploy the valve (middle), and the valve in place after the balloon is deflated and the catheter withdrawn. Valve placement takes about 10 seconds, the entire procedure 1–2 hours. Courtesy Author

My mentee Raj Makkar and I congratulate 102-year-old Leon Saliba at his successful 2-year follow-up of Dr. Makkar’s placement of a coronary artery stent and a prosthetic aortic valve.

A precise scale model of a tiny infant’s heart before surgery, created from multilayer images of the child’s heart and a printer. The heart can be created in any size, and sectioned at different angles, allowing the surgeon to closely examine every defect, and plan his surgery for no unpleasant surprises. Courtesy Norton Healthcare

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

James S. Forrester, M.D.
, is an emeritus professor and former chief of the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai. In addition, he is a professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Dr. Forrester developed the Forrester classification of hemodynamic subsets of acute myocardial infarction. In the early 1990s, he led a team that developed coronary angioscopy. He lives in Malibu, California, with his wife, who is also a physician. You can sign up for email updates
here
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THE HEART HEALERS. Copyright © 2015 by James Forrester. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.stmartins.com

Cover design by James Iacobelli

Cover illustration of heart © istock.com; background texture © Shutterstock

The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.

e-ISBN 9781466862555

Our e-books may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at (800) 221-7945, extension 5442, or by e-mail at
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First Edition: September 2015

 

CONTENTS

     
Title Page

     
Copyright Notice

     
Dedication

     
Author’s Note

      
PROLOGUE

PART I: ESCAPE FROM THE DARK AGES

  
1. A DAY LIKE ALL DAYS

  
2. “WHAT MAN MEANT FOR EVIL, GOD MEANT FOR GOOD”

  
3. A RIVER OF BLOOD

  
4. THE PAIN OF THE PIONEER

  
5. A HILL OF BONES

  
6. AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

PART II: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

  
7. ELECTRIFYING DISCOVERIES

  
8. THE HEART THAT SKIPPED A BEAT

  
9. SINGED WINGS

10. HOW TO WIN A NOBEL PRIZE

PART III: THE PAST CREATES THE PRESENT

11. ONE MAN’S DISASTER IS ANOTHER MAN’S BREAKTHROUGH

12. WHEN THE PAMPAS CAME TO CLEVELAND

13. EXPANDING HORIZONS

14. “THE SHIP HAS WEATHER’D EVERY RACK, THE PRIZE WE SOUGHT IS WON”

15. MERGING STREAMS

16. THE CLOT BUSTERS

17. THE BIRTH OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

18. A BALLOON IN ZÜRICH

19. CONQUERING ATLANTA

20. PRICKING ANDREAS’S BALLOON

PART IV: HOW TO CONQUER CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE

21. WHY DO ATHEROMAS FORM IN BLOOD VESSELS?

22. PLAQUE RUPTURE, HEART ATTACK, AND SUDDEN DEATH

23. A MOLDY GIFT

24. YOSEMITE

25. CONQUERING CAD IN OUR LIFETIME

26. THE PRESENT CREATES THE FUTURE

27. “ATTENTION MUST BE PAID”

     
Notes

     
Glossary

     
Index

     
Acknowledgments

     
Photos

     
About the Author

     
Copyright

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Notice

Dedication

Author’s Note

PROLOGUE

PART I: ESCAPE FROM THE DARK AGES

1. A DAY LIKE ALL DAYS

2. “WHAT MAN MEANT FOR EVIL, GOD MEANT FOR GOOD”

3. A RIVER OF BLOOD

4. THE PAIN OF THE PIONEER

5. A HILL OF BONES

6. AN IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

PART II: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

7. ELECTRIFYING DISCOVERIES

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