Special Communication: Looking Back on the Birth and Early Days of Interventional Radiology: Reflections of Dr. Stanley Baum

The past half-century has seen interventional radiology’s (IR) transformation from an outgrowth of diagnostic angiography to the vital component of the healthcare system it is today.1,2 The clinical discipline of IR continues to innovate, decrease risk, and improve patient outcomes through its solutions to complex medical problems.1 The robust clinical specialty as we know it today would not exist without the key group of luminaries who had the courage and foresight to push the boundaries of medicine. Most of the founding luminaries have since passed, including Dr. Sven Seldinger, Dr. Charles Dotter, Dr. Andreas Grunzig, Dr. Josef Rosch, Dr. Herbert L. Abrams, and Dr. Melvin Judkins.3 Few luminaries remain who harbored IRs birth. This essay recounts an interview with Dr. Stanley Baum as he describes his participation in the advent of interventional radiology.