Is the introduction of innovative methods in cardiovascular diagnostics and therapy to quick

Andreas Gruntzig can be regarded as the pioneer of modern cardiology. Based on the previous experiences of Charles Dotter in Portland, Oregon, and after many years of preparation as a young 38-year-old physician and consultant he carried out the first percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) in a 38-year-old patient in Zurich in 1977, supported by the cardiac surgeons A. Senning and M. Turina. Despite high ranking publications and early preparedness to share his experiences the development of PTCA stagnated and was met with great scepticism. The technique was new, technically difficult and aimed at aortocoronary bypass surgery, which was itself still in its infancy 10 years after the introduction in Cleveland in 1968. Even after several years only two patients per week were admitted for treatment in Zurich. In a similar way the young cardiac surgeon H.R. Andersen was a pioneer in Denmark whose ideas and own experiments with a balloon catheter-assisted aortic valve implantation were not initially taken up by the leading companies of the time and publication of the data suffered lengthy delays. It took 10 years before Prof. A. Cribier in Rouen followed up his ideas and carried out the first valve implantation again in pioneer work after many years of preparation in 2002. Again, the new method for treatment of very old and high risk patients needed many years before it was accepted. The breakthrough only became possible when this new technique began to be used in cardiac surgery after the introduction of hybrid cardiac catheter operating rooms. Despite evidence-based studies innovative methods are not subject to the same criteria throughout Europe with respect to the timely introduction of innovative and validated procedures also in consideration of reimbursement and this has become an important initiative of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).