Cardiology  

Edwards Lifesciences pays tribute to Dr Jeremy Swan's contributions to medical technology

18 February 2005

IRVINE, California, USA. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation (NYSE:EW) paid tribute today to the late Jeremy Swan, M.D., chairman emeritus of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center's division of cardiology and co-inventor of the Edwards Swan-Ganz pulmonary artery catheter. Dr. Swan died last week at Cedars-Sinai of complications after suffering a heart attack. He was 82.

"Dr. Swan was a true pioneer in medical device innovation," said Michael A. Mussallem, Edwards' chairman and CEO. "We are deeply saddened by his loss, as his leadership in the development of pulmonary artery catheters helped physicians treat millions of patients around the world. He was a mentor to hundreds of world-leading cardiologists, and his dedication to high ethical standards will serve as a legacy for many generations to come." In honor of Dr. Swan, Mussallem added, Edwards Lifesciences will be making a donation to the Dr. Jeremy Swan Memorial Heart Fund.

In 1968, Swan and his colleague, William Ganz, M.D., senior research scientist at Cedars Sinai, invented the pulmonary artery catheter, which provides measurements of a patient's cardiovascular performance during heart surgery, in intensive care units, and in other critical care situations. The device has helped clinicians evaluate more than 25 million patients since it first became commercially available in the 1970s.

"Jeremy was a brilliant thinker and organizer; a superb speaker and teacher," said Dr. Ganz. "His contributions changed medicine, and saved the lives of critically ill patients."

 

 

 

 

To top