In 1955 at a time when the cold war was tense, President Eisenhower suffered a massive acute myocardial infarction (heart attack) while on vacation in Denver. His primary treatment consisted of six weeks of strict bedrest. Fortunately, Ike recovered his heart attack and served a second term only to succumb to further heart attacks and heart failure after his second term. In retrospect, we now know that at this time, there was virtually nothing of value therapeutically that his physicians had to offer him. In the half century following Ike’s heart attack, innovative doctors led the discovery and development of coronary arteriography, coronary artery bypass surgery, balloon coronary angioplasty and coronary stents, discoveries that dramatically improved the outlook for patients with coronary heart disease. This book tells the personal stories—the biographies--of these physicians—iconoclastic, innovative, charismatic and some tragic—who transformed the treatment of coronary heart disease in the half century after Eisenhower’s heart attack. Former President Bill Clinton is among the millions who have benefited from these discoveries.
