Thrombolysis and interventional cardiology; experiences from the 80's

In October 1978 I assumed the position of cardiologist at the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven at the time when the cardiothoracic surgery programm began in this hospital. At that time I did not know the number of patients that had to be treated daily. During our fellowship training in cardiology, particularly in a university hospitaL there was time to discuss problems with teachers and to consider solutions. In a large nonacademic cardiology department like that of the Catharina hospitaL the situation is different: quick decisions are necessary. From 1978 onwards. clinical cardiology changed at such pace that even some universities had difficulty to implement new therapeutic developments such as percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and thrombolysis. In those early years we had a relatively small staff which made it difficult to keep up with these rapid changes. I was in a privileged position. since my colleagues gave me the opportunity to visit leading centres and to learn about new developments and implement them in our daily practice of cardiology. It was necessary to critically assess the clinical value of these developments by continuous monitoring and evaluation of the results. The fact. that we could start a fellowship programm in cardiology in 1980 was of great significance. We considered this a recognition that we were successful in both implementing and critically assessing these new developments. In this thesis aspects of new treatment modalities in modern cardiology are addressed: thrombolysis and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.

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