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Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 44.4 (2001) 612-616



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Book Review

Professor Hein J. J. Wellens: 33 Years of Cardiology and Arrhythmology


Professor Hein J. J. Wellens: 33 Years of Cardiology and Arrhythmology. Edited by J. L. R. M. Smeets, et al. Dodrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2000. Pp. xv + 679. $160.

Smeets, et al., have put together a source book on selected publications published over a third of a century by Hein J. J. Wellens and his colleagues in arrhythmology.The occasion was a Festschrift in honor of Dr. Wellens that was held in April 2000. Dr. Wellens studied medicine at Leiden University. He became a cardiologist in the Wilhelmina Gasthuis in Amsterdam in 1967, defended his thesis in 1971, and was appointed Professor of Cardiology at the University of Amsterdam in 1973. In 1977, he became chair of the Department [End Page 612] of Cardiology at the Maastricht University. He became a member of the Netherlands Royal Academy of Sciences in 1990. He truly is one of the fathers of clinical electrophysiology and has contributed substantially to our understanding of arrhythmias through his own work, the work of his collaborators and students, and the work of others who were influenced by him directly or indirectly. A selection of more than 60 articles from some 650 publications is included, along with commentaries by colleagues, associates, and students.

Opening this book brought back a flood of memories, and caused me to reflect on my choice of an academic career and the excitement of basic and clinical electrophysiology during my formative years. An academic career depends in large part in being in the right place at the right time, having the proper mentors, and associating with other trainees who are enthusiastic about gathering new knowledge.

In my case, my training in internal medicine and cardiology spanned the period from 1966 to 1971, at which time my military obligation became due and subsequently I began my academic career.This was a very exciting time for those interested in the electrical activity of the heart. As a member of the housestaff at the University of Chicago, my interest in electrophysiology was awakened by Hans Hecht, a remarkable man who was one of the pioneers in cellular electrophysiology and an electrocardiographer of note. My interest in organ physiology and electrocardiography was supported and encouraged by Rory Childers, who had worked with Gordon Moe, and the remarkable Richard Langendorf. Harry Fozzard was an important influence in cellular electrophysiology. In the days before the strict ABIM rules one could spend some time in the laboratory, and both Childers and Fozzard graciously opened the doors of their laboratories to me. I then went to the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University for training in cardiology and in research, where I worked in the cellular electrophysiology laboratory ofJ. Thomas Bigger, Jr., and was much influenced by Brian Hoffman. At P&S, I interacted with a remarkable group of young medical students, such as Arthur Bassett, Heinz Gelband, Bruce Goldreyer, Mark Josephson, Robert Myerberg, Michael Rosen, Harold Strauss, Al Waldo, and others.The interest in learning the secrets of cardiac electrical activity at a basic level and translating such knowledge into clinical use was intense.

Interesting things were also happening in another borough of New York City. Ben Scherlag, Anthony Damato, and their colleagues at the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital on Staten Island are generally credited for establishing a standard method for the intracardiac recording of electrical potentials from the bundle of His in 1969 (Scherlag et al. 1969).This was made possible by the development of cardiac catheterization techniques that made all parts of the heart accessible to study and by a few earlier studies of the His bundle in animals and man (see discussion in Macfarlane 1989). Over the next several years, Bruce Goldreyer and Mark Josephson from the Columbia group spent time acquiring [End Page 613] clinical experience with the new technique in Staten Island, as did a number of others who went on to distinguished careers...

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