You know Dotter was a real maverick in radiology circles when he developed the idea of intraluminal therapy, which was really his. Although the concept had been thought of before, I mean, Dotter is clearly the father of the idea of opening vessels from the inside. And he did it. He did it successfully, but his personality, his genius, was also his enemy, because he was ahead of the curve and he frightened people. It seemed crazy at the time.
American radiologists didn t follow through with it to any extent.
It was carried forth in Europe. Zeitler continued it, among others. And that s how Gruentzig got into the whole area of the Dotter technique. He picked it up from Zeitler and called Zeitler, approached Zeitler, got involved with him. Saw the Dotter technique develop, began to use it himself.