Introduction: Behind the iron curtain.

摘要

It is not uncommon in the history of medicine that significant contributions or scientific endeavors go unrecognized or are not attributed to their creator. This historical supplement to the JEVT, subtitled "Stent-Graft Development Behind the Iron Curtain," harkens back to the era of the Cold War, when democracy and communism fought ideological battles for decades. From the end of World War II until 1991, entire populations of communist-dominated countries were isolated from the rest of the world behind the Iron Curtain of border defenses and communication embargoes separating the Communist East from the West.