Intravascular Filters and Stents

In 1953, Sven Ivar Seldinger solved the problem of simple vascular access and opened the door to the current era of endovascular diagnostics and therapeutics (1). Twenty years later, Greenfield introduced the pulmonary embolectomy catheter and vena caval filter for treatment of pulmonary embolism (2). The introduction of intravascular stents by Palmaz in 1985 marked the most recent advance in the progress toward less invasive treatment for vascular disease (1).