Synopsis
The background and development of coronary interventional procedures and its dramatic evolution up to the present day will be presented to include speculation regarding the future of coronary interventions.
Spencer B. King, III, MD, MSCAI
Spencer B. King, III, MD, MSCAI, is a professor of medicine emeritus at Emory University School of Medicine. A pioneer in cardiac catheterization, coronary arteriography, and interventional cardiology, Dr. King was a co-developer of the multipurpose technique of coronary arteriography and has directed invasive and interventional cardiology training for more than 150 cardiology fellows. In 1972, he became the first director of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory of Emory University Hospital and, in 1980, recruited Andreas Gruentzig to begin the interventional cardiology program. Dr. King was the president of the American College of Cardiology (ACC) from 1998–to 1999 and the president of the Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) from 1991–to 1992. He served as the first chair of the Interventional Cardiology Boards of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) from 1997–to 2007 and was the founding editor in chief of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC): Cardiovascular Interventions from 2008–2018. Currently, Dr. King is the chairman of the New York State Cardiac Advisory Board and has participated on many committees of the American Heart Association (AHA); the ACC; and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).
Dr. King has authored more than 600 papers on cardiology and has edited or coedited 12 books, including Interventional Cardiology and Hurst’s The Heart (9th through 13th editions). His most recent work includes Translational Pathways for Cardiovascular Devices in 2019 and JACC’s Imaging Cases in Cardiovascular Interventions in 2020. In addition, he has served as a principal investigator or a member of the steering committees of 15 national and international clinical trials in cardiology, conducted the first NHLBI-sponsored trial of coronary angioplasty versus bypass surgery, and was the chairman of the board for Mercer University from 2017–2018. His research interests include restenosis prevention, having been a developer of radiation therapy to block restenosis, as well as new device development, evaluation of therapeutic approaches to cardiovascular disease, and preventive cardiology.
Dr. King’s honors include Master of the ACC, the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), Honorary International Fellow of the Japan Circulation Society, the Bishop Lecture of the ACC, the ETHICA Award of the European Society of Cardiology, the Jesse E. Edwards Lecture of the AHA, and Distinguished Alumnus Awards from the Medical College of Georgia and Mercer University. Most recently, the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratories in Nanjing, China, have been named in his honor.