Harold James Charles “Jeremy” Swan (1 June 1922 – 7 February 2005) was an Irish

cardiologist Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular he ...

who co-invented the Swan-Ganz catheter with William Ganz at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2, ...

in 1970.

Early life and education

Swan was born on 1 June 1922 in Sligo Ireland. His parents were both physicians, Harold John Swan and Marcella Bertile Swan née Kelly. His mother called him "Jeremy" to limit confusion and the name stuck throughout his life. Swan's early education was at Castle Rock School. He then attended St. Vincent's

Castleknock College Castleknock College ( ga, Coláiste Caisleán Cnucha) is a voluntary Vincentian secondary school for boys, situated in the residential suburb of Castleknock, west of Dublin city centre, Ireland. Founded in 1835 by Philip Dowley, it is one ...

in Dublin and graduated in 1939. He attended medical school at Trinity College Dublin in Dublin but earned his degree from St. Thomas's Hospital, London, England graduating in 1945. Swan was also an intern and junior resident at St. Thomas's Hospital from 1945 to 1946. He then entered the Royal Air Force medical service from 1946 to 1948, being stationed in Iraq.

Career

Swan worked as a cardiologist in the Mayo Clinic (in

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Ac ...

), and later moved to Cedars Sinai Hospital (

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

). His description of the invention of the catheter is said to have derived from watching the wind playing with sails in Santa Monica. He was present at the Mayo around the time they were performing early open heart surgeries in the mid-1950s.

Personal life and death

Swan died on 7 February 2005 from complications following a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

after a long period of debilitation from a stroke that he suffered from in 2001.

Award and honors

*Fellow American College of Cardiology (ACC) - 1968 *Member of the Executive Committee of the ACC - 1971 *Member of the Los Angeles County Heart Association Board of Directors - 19661972 *Chairman of the Research Committee Los Angeles County Heart Association - 19671969 *Fellow American College of Physicians (ACP) - 1970 *President ACC - 1973 and 1974 *Chairman of the Bethesda Conference Committee ACC - 19841989 *ACC Distinguished Fellow - 1985 *ACC Distinguished Service - 1999 *ACC master of the college - 2001 *ACC Distinguished Scientist - 2003 *Master of the American College of Physicians - 1985 *Honorary doctorate from Trinity College in Dublin - 1996 *Walter Dixon Memorial Award from the British Medical Association *Herrick Award for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Cardiology from the American Heart Association *Maimonides Award from the state of Israel *Theodore Cummings Humanitarian Award from Cedars-Sinai

References

1922 births 2005 deaths Irish cardiologists People from County Sligo Irish emigrants to the United States Place of death missing People educated at Castleknock College Physicians of the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center 20th-century American inventors {{Ireland-med-bio-stub