Medical Pioneer. A cardiologist, he was the "Ganz" of the Swan-Ganz catheter, a device used by physicians the world-over for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Raised in what is then Czechoslovakia, Ganz was an honor student and soccer player in high school, prior to entering the Charles University School of Medicine in Prague in 1937; the Nazi invasion of 1939 temporarily ended his education, and sent him to a Hungarian labor camp. He barely avoided deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, then returned to medical school after the war, graduating in 1947. Dr. Ganz had a successful practice, but grew tired of Communism; allowed to take a vacation to Italy in 1966, Dr. Ganz and his family defected upon reaching Vienna. Admitted to the United States (due to having family in Los Angeles), the doctor took up cardiology practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In 1970, he partnered with Dr. Jeremy Swan to develop a flexible catheter with a balloon tip to measure pulmonary wedge pressure, and monitor other cardiac conditions; the Swan-Ganz catheter offered easier use and reduced danger of complications compared to the older stiff-catheter technique. In 1982, Dr. Ganz joined with Dr. P.K. Shah to invent thrombolytic therapy, a technique whereby the Swan-Ganz catheter is used to inject "clot-busting" enzymes (tPA, streptokinase, and others) directly onto a blood clot within a coronary artery. (An alternative method of giving the drugs by intravenous injection is easier, but less effective). At the time of Dr. Ganz' death, the procedure had saved numerous lives, and remained in use, though it had been partially supplanted by balloon angioplasty. Dr. Ganz received the 1992 Distinguished Scientist Award of the American College of Cardiology, and died of age-related complications.
Medical Pioneer. A cardiologist, he was the "Ganz" of the Swan-Ganz catheter, a device used by physicians the world-over for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Raised in what is then Czechoslovakia, Ganz was an honor student and soccer player in high school, prior to entering the Charles University School of Medicine in Prague in 1937; the Nazi invasion of 1939 temporarily ended his education, and sent him to a Hungarian labor camp. He barely avoided deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, then returned to medical school after the war, graduating in 1947. Dr. Ganz had a successful practice, but grew tired of Communism; allowed to take a vacation to Italy in 1966, Dr. Ganz and his family defected upon reaching Vienna. Admitted to the United States (due to having family in Los Angeles), the doctor took up cardiology practice at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. In 1970, he partnered with Dr. Jeremy Swan to develop a flexible catheter with a balloon tip to measure pulmonary wedge pressure, and monitor other cardiac conditions; the Swan-Ganz catheter offered easier use and reduced danger of complications compared to the older stiff-catheter technique. In 1982, Dr. Ganz joined with Dr. P.K. Shah to invent thrombolytic therapy, a technique whereby the Swan-Ganz catheter is used to inject "clot-busting" enzymes (tPA, streptokinase, and others) directly onto a blood clot within a coronary artery. (An alternative method of giving the drugs by intravenous injection is easier, but less effective). At the time of Dr. Ganz' death, the procedure had saved numerous lives, and remained in use, though it had been partially supplanted by balloon angioplasty. Dr. Ganz received the 1992 Distinguished Scientist Award of the American College of Cardiology, and died of age-related complications.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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