Julio Palmaz
| Julio Palmaz | |
|---|---|
| Born |
December 13, 1945 La Plata, Argentina |
| Nationality | Argentina |
| Education | National University of La Plata, Argentina |
| Occupation | Cardiologist, Radiologist |
| Known for | Co-inventor of the Palmaz-Schatz Stent. |
Julio Palmaz (December 13, 1945 in La Plata, Argentina) is a doctor of vascular radiology at University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. He studied at the National University of La Plata in Argentina, earning his medical degree in 1971. He then practiced vascular radiology at the San Martin University Hospital in La Plata before moving to the University of Texas Health and Science Center at San Antonio. He is known for inventing the balloon-expandable stent, for which he received a patent filed in 1985. It was recognized in Intellectual Property International Magazine as one of "Ten Patents that Changed the World" in the last century. His early stent research artifacts are now part of the medical collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. He continues to innovate on his initial designs, developing new endovascular devices.
Palmaz received his M.D. in 1971 from the National University of La Plata, Argentina. He joined the San Martin University Hospital in La Plata to practice vascular radiology in 1974. He moved with his family to the United States in 1977 and spent three years training in radiology at the University of California at Davis' Martinez Veterans Administration Medical Center. He has worked as Chief of Angiography and Special Procedures in the radiology department at the University of Texas Health and Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) since 1983. He currently holds the Ashbel Smith Professorship as a tenured Professor at UTHSCSA.
Coronary artery disease is a condition in which the blood vessels to the heart become clogged. It often leads to heart attacks and is one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Beginning in the mid-1960s, the leading treatment consisted of invasive bypass surgery, in which a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body is grafted onto the coronary artery, forming a detour around the afflicted region. Due to the high cost and risk of this procedure, an alternative was in high demand. In 1977, Andreas Gruentzig performed the first successful percutaneous coronary angioplasty. In this procedure, a catheter attached to a small balloon is inserted into the afflicted artery. The balloon is subsequently expanded, compressing the accumulated plaque to allow increased blood flow. This was a substantial improvement over bypass surgery in terms of invasiveness, but unfortunately restenosis, a recurrence of arterial clogging, occurred in nearly 50% of patients after the balloon was removed.
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