Timeline of cardiovascular disease

Prior to 1400s

Descriptions of heart failure exist from Ancient Egypt, Greece, and India. The Romans are known to use the foxglove as medicine.

1700s–1800s

Angina is described and studied extensively in the 18th and 19th centuries. Work by cardiologist William Osler stands out.

1940s–1950s

The International Society of Cardiology is designed, and the World Congress of Cardiology starts to be held. The link between heart disease and diet is discovered.

1628

Development

English physician William Harvey describes in detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped to the brain and body by the heart.

1681–1742

Discovery

German physician Friedrich Hoffmann notes that coronary heart disease starts in the “reduced passage of the blood within the coronary arteries."

Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg

1785

Development

English physician William Withering publishes an account of medical use of digitalis, which are used for the treatment of heart conditions.

1819

Development

French physician René Laennec invents the stethoscope, an acoustic device for listening internal sounds of an animal or human body.

Necker-Enfants Malades Hospital, Paris

1895

Discovery

German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen discovers X-rays, which are used to diagnose heart disease.

1920

Development

Organomercurial diuretics are first used for treatment of heart failure.

1926

Organization

The Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute is founded.

Melbourne, Australia

1932

Development

American cardiac surgeon Michael E. DeBakey develops the roller pump, which later becomes an essential component of the heart-lung machine.

Tulane University, New Orleans

1941

Development

French physician André Cournand and American physician Dickinson Richards, use the cardiac catheter as a diagnostic tool for the first time, applying catheterization techniques to measure right-heart pressures and cardiac output. Both are awarded the Nobel Prize in 1956.{{cite journal |author=Eugene Braunwald |date= |title=Cardiology: the past, the present, and the future|url=http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleid=1132857|journal=Journal of the American College of Cardiology|publisher= |volume= 42|issue= |pages= 2031–2041|doi=10.1016/j.jacc.2003.08.025

pmc= |pmid= }}

1949–1958

Development

Scottish epidemiologist Jerry Morris performs the first studies on cardiovascular health, later establishing the importance of physical activity in preventing cardiovascular disease.

1950

Discovery

Team led by American scientist John Gofman demonstrates the role of lipoproteins in the causation of heart disease.

University of California, Berkeley

1950–1959

Discovery

American scientist Ancel Keys discovers that heart disease is rare in some Mediterranean populations where fat diet has slow consumption.{{cite web|url=http://www.healthline.com/health/heart-disease/history#3|title=The History of Heart Disease

author=Colleen Story,Kristeen Cherney|date=|accessdate=28 July 2016}}

1952

Development

American cardiologist Paul Zoll develops the first external cardiac pacemaker.

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts

1958

Development

Thiazide diuretics are introduced for treating hypertension.

1960

Discovery

Framingham Study: Cigarette smoking is found to increase the risk of heart disease.

U.S.A

1961

Discovery

Cholesterol level, blood pressure, and electrocardiogram abnormalities are found to increase the risk of heart disease.

U.S.A

1963

Organization

Instituto do Coração da Universidade de São Paulo is founded as a center specializing in cardiology, cardiovascular medicine and cardiovascular surgery.

Sao Paulo

1964

Development

American interventional radiologist Charles Dotter describes angioplasty for the first time.

1967

Achievement

Argentine cardiac surgeon René Favaloro performs the first documented saphenous aortocoronary bypass.

Cleveland Clinic, Ohio

1969

Organization

The International Cardiology Foundation (ICF) is established.

Geneva

1970

Organization

The Sixth World Congress of Cardiology is held. During this congress, the International Cardiology Federation (ICF) is created.

London

1975

Organization

The Philippine Heart Center is founded.

Quezón City, Philippines

1977

Development

German radiologist Andreas Gruentzig first develops coronary angioplasty for treatment of coronary artery disease.

Zurich, Switzerland

1978

Organization

The International Society of Cardiology and the International Cardiology Federation merge to become the International Society and Federation of Cardiology.

1982

Development

The Jarvik 7 total artificial heart, named for its designer, Dr. Robert Jarvik, is implanted in a patient.

University of Utah

1987

Discovery

Study done by Cooperative North Scandinavian Enalapril Survival Study (CONSENSUS), shows unequivocal survival benefit of angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in severe heart failure.

1988

Achievement

The first successful long-term implantation of an artificial Ventricular assist device LVAD is conducted by Dr. William F. Bernhard.

Boston Children's Hospital

1994

Discovery

Enlarged left ventricle (one of two lower chambers of the heart) is shown to increase the risk of stroke.

U.S.A

1996

Development

Progression from hypertension to heart failure is described.

U.S.A

1998

Discovery

Framingham Study: Atrial fibrillation is found to be associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality.

U.S.A

1999

Discovery

Lifetime risk at age 40 years of developing coronary heart disease is found to be one in two for men and one in three for women.

U.S.A

2000

Organization

The Krishna Heart Institute is founded as a high-end medical facility, specializing in heart diseases.

Ahmedabad, India

2001

Discovery

High-normal blood pressure is found to be associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, emphasizing the need to determine whether lowering high-normal blood pressure can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

U.S.A

2004

Discovery

Serum aldosterone levels are found to predict future risk of hypertension in non-hypertensive individuals.

Boston Medical Center, U.S.A

2007

Organization

Atrial Fibrillation Association is established as an international charity that provides information and support for patients with atrial fibrillation.

Shipston-on-Stour, United Kingdom

2008

Organization

The Sixteenth World Congress of Cardiology is held. From then on, the WCC moves from a 4-year to a 2-year cycle.

Buenos Aires

2011

Development

pCMV-vegf165 is registered in Russia as the first-in-class gene therapy [...] for treatment of peripheral artery disease, including the advanced stage of critical limb ischemia.

Russia

2012

Report

Ischemic heart disease and stroke are found to be the leading causes of death worldwide, with 7.4 million deaths due to ischemic heart disease and 6.7 million deaths for stroke.