William Ganz, M.D., an internationally recognized leader and inventor in heart medicine, died of natural causes on Nov. 10 at the age of 90. Ganz was a co-inventor of the Swan-Ganz catheter for measuring heart conditions and was a pioneer in thrombolysis, in which enzymes are injected into the bloodstream to break down clots that block vessels.
Born in 1919 in Kosice, then a small town in Central Europe, he was educated at Charles University School of Medicine in Prague. During World War II, he was incarcerated in a Nazi labor camp, survived in the Jewish underground in Budapest and later escaped from communism when he and his family emigrated to the United States.
Soon after arriving in Los Angeles with his wife, Magda, and their two sons, Tomas and Peter, in 1966, Ganz joined the fledgling Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai.
In 1970, Ganz and then-Chief of Cardiology H.J.C. Swan, M.D., invented a balloon-tipped catheter to assess heart function in critically ill patients. The following year, Ganz developed a new method for direct measurement of blood flow in humans. His measurement technique was then incorporated into the Swan-Ganz Catheter. Both the catheter and the Ganz measurement method are today used by physicians worldwide.
In 1982, Ganz collaborated with P.K. Shah, M.D., now director of the Cardiology Division at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, to conduct the first studies in treating heart attacks by dissolving coronary artery blood clots. Today, throughout the world, clot-dissolving therapy is the standard treatment for heart attack patients.
“Dr. Ganz was a giant in medicine and in life,” said Shah, who is also the Shapell and Webb Family Chair in Clinical Cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute. “He changed the lives of millions through his significant contributions to medicine, but he never lost sight of the importance of family and friends. He has left us a rich and enviable legacy.”
Ganz’s wife, Magda, died in 2005. He is survived by his son, Peter Ganz, M.D., his son’s wife, Miriam (Mimi), their children, Dalia, Philip and Jason; and by his son, Tomas Ganz, M.D., Ph.D., his wife, Patricia, and their children, David and Rebecca.
Memorial services were held at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Hollywood. The family requests that in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to the American Heart Association or the American Cancer Society.
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