Irene Lang (MedUni Vienna, 3rd from left) receives the renowned Andreas Grüntzig Award from the European Society of Cardiology at the annual meeting in Amsterdam. This award was presented by Martine Gillard (Brest, France, on the right) and Emanuele Barbato (Rome, Italy, 2nd from the left) and Ana Rita Pereira, (Almada, Portugal, on the left).
(Amsterdam, Vienna, September 19, 2023) As part of the 2023 annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) in Amsterdam, Irene Lang, Deputy Head of the Clinical Department of Cardiology and the University Clinic of Internal Medicine II at MedUni Vienna, was awarded the prestigious Andreas Grüntzig Prize.
Andreas Grüntzig is the founder of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). In 1977, he performed the first PCI of a proximal LAD – with great success, as this coronary lesion was still open even after ten years. Stents were later developed to treat the intima-media dissection inevitable by balloon dilation and, as is well known, these were subsequently developed significantly.
Irene Lang received the Andreas Grüntzig Prize for her achievements in establishing balloon pulmonary angioplasty (BPA) in Europe. BPA is used to treat chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH), a rare disease characterized by fibrotic occlusions of the pulmonary artery. For several years, Irene Lang has been modifying this technology for patients in Europe together with a Japanese working group led by Hiromi Matsubara (Okayama, Japan) and consistently developing the knowledge gained.
It has been recognized that with consecutive and very careful dilation of the pulmonary arteries, a significant reduction in pulmonary vascular resistance can be achieved. This allows large segments of the lung to be reconnected to the blood circulation and thus participate in active oxygen exchange again. This leads to a drastic reduction in symptoms: a significant improvement in physical performance can be observed in almost all patients, which goes far beyond the effects of drug therapy with conventional vasodilators.
“The award of the Andreas Grüntzig Prize is a special honor for the development of BPA, not only in Europe, but throughout the world”, says Christian Hengstenberg, Head of the Clinical Department of Cardiology and the University Clinic for Internal Medicine II at MedUni Vienna , congratulating the winner of the award. “These achievements and consistent international, multidisciplinary collaboration have led to a new treatment option for patients with CTEPH who previously not only had a very low quality of life, but also an extremely low life expectancy.”