Research Timeline - the 1970s

The new technique of echocardiography was first used to look for heart defects - a 'non-invasive' diagnostic method that uses high frequency sound waves (ultra sound) to build up a 'picture' of the heart's structure and movement.

Surgical advances help congenital heart disease

Every year in the UK alone, around 4,600 babies are born with a heart defect.

Many will need treatment through surgery or medication. Although not all children with congenital heart disease survive, thanks to heart research and advances in diagnosis and treatment, many such children now grow up to lead full and active lives.

Safer surgery for heart patients

A technique to widen narrowed arteries - balloon angioplasty - was first introduced. This procedure involves introducing an inflatable balloon into an artery through the groin, and moving it to the narrowing using X-ray guidance. The balloon is inflated to widen the narrowed area. This technique has now replaced open heart surgery in the treatment of some patients.

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease

Although it has long been recognised that high blood pressure is a major risk factor for overall mortality, it was during the 1970s that several famous studies highlighted the increased risk of coronary heart disease and stroke among hypertensive patients. During the early 1980s it was confirmed that coronary heart disease and stroke were reduced by treatment of high blood pressure.

> The 1980s

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