A century of X-rays.
The first cardiac catheterisation of the human heart is attributed to a German surgeon, Dr Werner Forssmann. Against the wishes of his superiors but with the help of his nurse assistant, Gerda Ditzen, Dr Forssmann catheterised himself using a uro- logic catheter via a cutdown in his arm. Having passed the catheter through a vein into the right side of his heart, he calmly walked to the X-ray department for a chest X-ray to confirm the precise position of the catheter within his heart. It is reported that he catheterised himself a total of nine times ( 1 , 2 ).