Claudio J. Schonholz (born 1956 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an

interventional radiologist Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound. IR performs bo ...

, the first in the United States to perform minimally invasive aortic aneurysm surgery (

stent graft In medicine, a stent is a metal or plastic tube inserted into the lumen of an anatomic vessel or duct to keep the passageway open, and stenting is the placement of a stent. A wide variety of stents are used for different purposes, from expandab ...

procedure) together with Drs.

Frank Veith Frank J. Veith is an American vascular surgeon who serves as Professor of Surgery, New York University Medical Center NY, NY and Professor of Surgery Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH ...

Juan C. Parodi Juan Carlos Parodi (Buenos Aires, August 16, 1942) is an Argentinian vascular surgeon who introduced the minimally invasive endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) to the world and performed the first successful endovascular repair of an abdominal aor ...

and

Michael L. Marin Michael L. Marin is an American vascular surgeon. Together with Drs. Frank Veith, Juan C. Parodi and Claudio J. Schonholz, he was the first in the United States to perform minimally invasive aortic aneurysm surgery (stent-graft procedure). In ...

Education

Schonholz was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He attended the National College of Buenos Aires and graduated with honors from the University of Buenos Aires in 1980. Following it, he did residency in diagnostic radiology as well as in angiography and

interventional radiology Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that performs various minimally-invasive procedures using medical imaging guidance, such as x-ray fluoroscopy, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, or ultrasound. IR performs bo ...

at the Centre Cardiologuique du Nord in Paris, France. While there, he worked with professors Michel Tonnelier and Francis Besse and helped them with the development of digital subtraction angiography.

Career

Dr. Schonholz eventually became private practitioner in his hometown with a team of physicians that specialize in interventional cardiology and neurosurgery. During one such days, Schonholz and his colleague, Luis Augusto Lemme Plaghos, introduced many neurointerventional procedures in Argentina such as brain embolization to cure

arteriovenous malformation Arteriovenous malformation is an abnormal connection between arteries and veins, bypassing the capillary system. This vascular anomaly is widely known because of its occurrence in the central nervous system (usually cerebral AVM), but can appea ...

. In 1989, Schonholz met with

in a nearby hospital where Parodi worked as a vascular surgeon. Dr. Parodi suggested him to join his project on

which he plans to use on patients who are in higher risk of developing abdominal aortic aneurysms. Knowing Dr. Schonholz's work on carotid angioplasty, they merged forces in 1990 and became the first team of physicians to use stent graft to treat a human with abdominal aortic aneurysm. The novel procedure was performed at the Buenos Aires Cardiovascular Institute, and was later proven to be innovative and minimally invasive. Their invention was so unique to the world, that Dr. Schonholz and his team were invited to

Nancy, France Nancy ; Lorraine Franconian: ''Nanzisch'' is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the northeastern Departments of France, French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It was the capital of the Duchy of Lorraine, which was Lorraine and Barrois, an ...

where they met with Michel Henry and Max Amor and demonstrated their invention at the 2nd International Course of Peripheral Vascular Intervention. In 1992, Schonholz and his team went to the

Montefiore Medical Center Montefiore Medical Center is a premier academic medical center and the primary teaching hospital of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York City. Its main campus, the Henry and Lucy Moses Division, is located in the Norwoo ...

at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York where they joined

and

to perform first stent graft procedure in the United States. In 2000, Schonholz joined the Department of Radiology at Louisiana State University and later became its director of vascular and

. Four years later, Dr. Schonholz joined the faculty of the

Department of Radiology Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of the

Medical University of South Carolina The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in South Carolina. It opened in 1824 in Charleston as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities acr ...

in Charleston, South Carolina where he still works at its Heart and Vascular Center.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonholz, Claudio J. 1956 births Living people American vascular surgeons University of Buenos Aires alumni Louisiana State University faculty Argentine emigrants to the United States