Biography

As a pupil and collaborator of the late Professor Dirk Durrer in Amsterdam, Hein J.J. Wellens was involved in the early developments in programmed electrical stimulation of the heart in patients with the Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome. In these patients, it was shown for the very first time that arrhythmias could be initiated and terminated by critically timed premature beats. In 1971 he reported on the use of programmed electrical stimulation of the heart in patients with atrial flutter, AV nodal tachycardia and patients with accessory atrio-ventricular connections. In 1972 he showed that also in patients with ventricular tachycardia the arrhythmia could reproducibly be initiated and terminated by timed premature stimuli. These investigations were the basis for new surgical and pacing approaches to the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. He also demonstrated that the reproducible initiation and termination of arrhythmias by programmed electrical stimulation of the heart allowed the study of the effect of antiarrhythmic drugs on the mechanism of the arrhythmia. In 1977 he moved to the new University of Limburg in Maastricht to develop academic cardiology there. Starting from scratch he managed to create in Maastricht an internationally acknowledged center for the study and treatment of cardiac arrhythmias. He has published more than 300 manuscripts in peer reviewed journals and more than 200 chapters in books. Ten books on cardiology were written or edited. More than 150 cardiologists from abroad came to Maastricht for periods ranging from 6 months to 2 years for postgraduate training. At present, Dr Wellens directs a large academic cardiology department with a staff of 20 cardiologists and a well known cardiology training program. Dr. Wellens is an internationally known teacher which has resulted in numerous international invitations to give lectures. He is an honorary, corresponding or regular member of many international cardiological societies.

Over the past 25 years by developing a reproducible and objective method of studying arrhythmic mechanisms and effects of therapeutic interventions directly in the human heart, the work of Dr. Wellens has fundamentally changed the understanding and approach to cardiac arrhythmias.

Interview Excerpts

How Wellens started in electrophysiology (Real Audio)

Three great decades of electrophysiology (Real Audio)

Overcoming hurdles (Real Audio)

Advances in reading electrocardiograms (Real Audio)

The development of the stimulator (Real Audio)

Excerpted from this interview:
Interviewer: Jim Maloney
Date: May 19, 1995
Place: Boston, Massachusetts
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