Andreas Gruentzig

A small mesh tube called a stent is usually left in place to keep the artery open.

Angioplasty was first performed by Andreas Grüntzig in Zurich in 1977, and the introduction of drug-eluting stents in the early 2000s significantly reduced the rate at which treated arteries narrowed again after the procedure.

Now we arrive at the animal kingdom, where heartbeats take on dimensions that are both enormous and impossibly small.

The blue whale has the largest heart of any living animal, weighing approximately 180 kilograms, about the weight of three adult humans.