Mason Sones (1918-1985) was an American physician whose pioneering work in cardiac catheterization was instrumental in the development of coronary angiography based on which coronary bypass surgery was later developed.
Sones received his M.D. from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he served in the US Air Corp in the Pacific. Sones did his residency at Henry Ford Hospital and later joined the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1950.
On October 30, 1958 while he was performing an angiogram of the ascending aorta the catheter inadvertently slipped in the right coronary artery. Although it was attempted, the catheter was not withdrawn, thus a large amount of contrast was injected into the artery. The patient's heart went into asystole but when the patient coughed as instructed the heart started beating again.
From this experience, Sones realized that smaller amounts of contrast media could safely injected in the coronary arteries an invention that resulted in a diagnostic method that revolutionized cardiology. With the advent of coronary angiography, cardiologists for the first time, could accurately map stenoses or occlusions in the coronary circulation. In 1967 a cardiac surgeon, Rene Favaloro, performed the first coronary bypass at the Cleveland Clinic. it was Favaloro who called Sones "the most important contributor to modern cardiology."
Sones received numerous awards during his career. He was one of the founders of the Society of Cardiac Angiography (now known as the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions) and served as the first President of the new society.
This post is dedicated to Dr. Harisios Boudoulas a cardiologist who established the division of non-invasive cardiology at the Ohio State Medial Center. Dr.Boudoulas pioneered the study of diseases of the heart and the aorta. Professor Boudoulas was the Distinguished Research Investigator Division of the Academy of Athens.
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