Dr. Jeremy Swan, 82; Inventor Aided Millions of Heart Patients
Dr. Jeremy Swan, chairman emeritus of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center’s division of cardiology and a co-inventor of the Swan-Ganz heart catheter that assesses the pulmonary functions of heart attack patients, has died. He was 82.
Swan died Monday at Cedars-Sinai of complications after suffering a heart attack, according to Dr. Prediman K. Shah, director of the hospital’s cardiology division and a longtime colleague.
“Jeremy Swan’s contributions to cardiology are nothing short of monumental,” Shah said Thursday. “He touched the lives of several generations of cardiologists from all over the world and put the Cedars-Sinai division of cardiology on the international map.”
Swan was born in Sligo, Ireland, the son of two physicians. He earned his medical degree at the University of London and came to the U.S. in 1951 to join the cardiology department at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. He became the director of the clinic’s catheterization laboratory, where he developed ways to detect birth defects of the heart.
“That is how Dr. Swan first made his mark,” Shah said. “He became very well known for his work at Mayo.”
Swan came to Los Angeles in 1965 as chief of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai and remained in the job until 1987, when he was named chairman emeritus. Three years after he joined the staff, Cedars-Sinai’s cardiology department received a $633,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The aim was to improve knowledge and treatment of heart attacks and was the first time any hospital unaffiliated with a university had received the grant.
At the time, Swan pointed out that not all heart attacks are caused by the same problem and should not receive a uniform treatment.
“Those were the days when nobody knew what to do after a patient had a heart attack, except to treat the complications caused by it,” Prediman said.
In 1970, Swan and his colleague, Dr. William Ganz, invented their heart catheter, which measures the characteristics of a heart attack, allowing a more precise diagnosis and treatment. The catheter has since been used on millions of patients.
At a recent reunion of graduates from the hospital’s cardiology fellowship program, there were doctors from around the world, all of them Swan’s former students.
“Part of his impact was that he started the career of hundreds of cardiologists,” said Dr. John Harold, a former student and chief of Cedars-Sinai’s medical staff.
Swan is survived by his wife, Roma; six children; 11 grandchildren; and one great-grandchild. A daughter, Katherine, predeceased him.
A memorial service will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1760 N. Gower St., on Feb. 18 at 11 a.m.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Jeremy Swan Memorial Heart Fund, c/o Community Relations Department, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8700 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048.
