The Heart Healers (64 page)
Authors: James Forrester
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 The balloon is deflated, and the catheter is withdrawn.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balloon inflated to deploy the valve (middle), and the valve in place after the balloon is deflated and the catheter withdrawn.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
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
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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.
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
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First Edition: September 2015
CONTENTS
PART I: ESCAPE FROM THE DARK AGES
2. “WHAT MAN MEANT FOR EVIL, GOD MEANT FOR GOOD”
PART II: THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
8. THE HEART THAT SKIPPED A BEAT
PART III: THE PAST CREATES THE PRESENT
11. ONE MAN’S DISASTER IS ANOTHER MAN’S BREAKTHROUGH
12. WHEN THE PAMPAS CAME TO CLEVELAND
14. “THE SHIP HAS WEATHER’D EVERY RACK, THE PRIZE WE SOUGHT IS WON”
17. THE BIRTH OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
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
25. CONQUERING CAD IN OUR LIFETIME
26. THE PRESENT CREATES THE FUTURE
Table of Contents
PART I: ESCAPE FROM THE DARK AGES
2. “WHAT MAN MEANT FOR EVIL, GOD MEANT FOR GOOD”