Ulrich Sigwart
 |
Ulrich Sigwart (born March 9, 1941 in Wuppertal, Germany) is a cardiologist known for his pioneering role in the conception and clinical use of vascular stents.
Biography
Sigwart has his origins in Tübingen (Germany) where - for several centuries - his family played an important role at the local university. He had his medical education in Freiburg (Germany), Basel (Switzerland) and Munster (Germany). After some years in the U.S. (Boston and Houston) followed by additional training in Zurich (Switzerland) he was charged in 1973 to set up an invasive cardiology program at the Gollwitzer-Meier Institute in Bad Oeynhausen in Germany, which became the nidus for Heart and Diabetes Center North-Rhine Westphalia. From 1979 to 1989 he headed the section of invasive cardiology at the University Hospital in Lausanne (Switzerland). From 1989 to 2001 he was director of the department of invasive cardiology at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London and occupied the chair of cardiology at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) until his retirement in 2006.
Sigwart believed in the concept of intravascular scaffolding. In 1987, after several years of preliminary work in animals, he published a landmark paper on the use intravascular stents in humans to prevent occlusion and re-stenosis after angioplasty of coronary and peripheral arteries.[1] In 1994 he introduced percutaneous alcohol septal ablation (ASA, TASH, PTSMA), a non-surgical method for the treatment of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, which often allows symptomatic patients to avoid open heart surgery.[2] During the years 1974–1978 he created the basis for the automated analysis of hemodynamic data and studied the repercussions of myocardial ischemia (Sigwart curve)[3] and the performance of artificial heart valves.
Awards
European Society of Cardiology Medal 1996,
ESC Andreas Gruentzig Award 1996,
Doctor honoris causa of the University of Lausanne 1999,
Werner Forssmann Prize 2001,
Sven Effert Prize 2003,
King Faisal International Prize for Medicine 2004,
Swiss Cardiac Society Grüntzig Award 2006,
Polzer Prize of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts 2007,
American College of Cardiology Maseri-Florio International Award 2007
American College of Cardiology Paul Dudley White Award 2012
American College of Cardiology Distinguished Scientist Award 2013
Books
U. Sigwart Automation in Cardiac Diagnosis: The Computer-Assisted Acquisition of Cardiac Catheterization Data, Schwabe 1978,
U. Sigwart and P. H. Heintzen (Editors): Ventricular Wall Motion, Thieme 1984,
U. Sigwart and G. I. Frank (Editors): Coronary Stents, Springer 1992 (ISBN 0387545417, 9780387545417) (Coronary Stents)
U. Sigwart: Endoluminal Stenting, W. B. Saunders 1996
Ulrich Sigwart, Michel Bertrand, Patrick W. Serruys (Editors): Handbook on Cardiovascular Interventions, Churchill Livingstone, 1996
References
- ^ Sigwart U, Puel J, Mirkovitch V, Joffre F, Kappenberger L: Intravascular stents to prevent occlusion and restenosis after transluminal angioplasty. N Engl J Med 1987;316:701–706
- ^ Sigwart U: Non-surgical myocardial reduction for hypertrophic obstructive myocardial infarction. Lancet 1995;346:211–214
- ^ Sigwart U, Grbic M, Payot M, Goy J-J, Essinger A, et al.: Ischemic events during coronary artery balloon occlusion. In: Rutishauser W, Roskamm H, eds. Silent Myocardial Ischemia. Berlin: SpringerVerlag; 1984; 29–36