Coronary Angiography

Coronary angiography, injecting radiopaque contrast into the coronary arteries through a catheter, transformed the care of millions of patients and the careers of tens of thousands of cardiologists. As was typical of new diagnostic techniques, coronary angiography was the result of a series of technological innovations combined with contributions that many individuals had made over several years. But Mason Sones Jr. of the Cleveland Clinic was the main innovator and promoter of coronary angiography, which he described in a 1960 publication. At the time, there was no accepted surgical treatment for coronary heart disease, so very few cardiologists saw the need to refer their patients for this invasive catheter-based procedure. Sones and his colleagues at the Cleveland Clinic became tireless promoters of coronary angiography and of the Vineberg internal mammary artery implant operation as a treatment strategy for patients with coronary artery disease and angina pectoris.