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”’Gunnar Wikholm”’ (1948-2025<ref>{{cite news |title=Trombektomins upphovsman har avlidit |url=https://www.dagensmedicin.se/specialistomraden/neurologi/trombektomins-upphovsman-har-avlidit/ |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=www.dagensmedicin.se |language=sv}}</ref>) was a Swedish physician and interventional neuroradiologist who worked at [[Sahlgrenska University Hospital]] in [[Gothenburg]], Sweden.<ref name=”GU2026″>{{cite web |title=In Memoriam: Gunnar Wikholm – the first in the world to perform thrombectomy in acute stroke |url=https://www.gu.se/en/research/in-memoriam-gunnar-wikholm-the-first-in-the-world-to-perform-thrombectomy-in-acute-stroke |website=University of Gothenburg |date=25 January 2026 |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref> He was a pioneer in catheter-based mechanical removal of intracranial blood clots |
”’Gunnar Wikholm”’ (1948-2025<ref>{{cite news |title=Trombektomins upphovsman har avlidit |url=https://www.dagensmedicin.se/specialistomraden/neurologi/trombektomins-upphovsman-har-avlidit/ |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=www.dagensmedicin.se |language=sv}}</ref>) was a Swedish physician and interventional neuroradiologist who worked at [[Sahlgrenska University Hospital]] in [[Gothenburg]], Sweden.<ref name=”GU2026″>{{cite web |title=In Memoriam: Gunnar Wikholm – the first in the world to perform thrombectomy in acute stroke |url=https://www.gu.se/en/research/in-memoriam-gunnar-wikholm-the-first-in-the-world-to-perform-thrombectomy-in-acute-stroke |website=University of Gothenburg |date=25 January 2026 |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref> He was a pioneer in catheter-based mechanical removal of intracranial blood clots.<ref name=”GP2018″>{{cite news |last=Borén |first=Erling |title=Han jobbar med att suga ut proppar i hjärnan |url=https://www.gp.se/nyheter/goteborg/han-jobbar-med-att-suga-ut-proppar-i-hjarnan.e7c3480d-69f3-4cbd-92eb-65c4bda9748f |work=Göteborgs-Posten |date=15 May 2018 |access-date=28 January 2026 |language=sv}}</ref><ref name=”Neurologi2016″>{{cite magazine |last=Mazya |first=Michael |last2=Jerndal |first2=Mikael |title=Trombektomi tillgängligt för fler |magazine=Neurologi i Sverige |issue=2 |year=2016 |page=27 |url=https://www.neurologiisverige.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Neurologi2_16_150dpi.pdf |access-date=28 January 2026 |language=sv}}</ref> |
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==Early life and education== |
==Early life and education== |
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==Contribution to stroke thrombectomy== |
==Contribution to stroke thrombectomy== |
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Wikholm |
Wikholm the <ref name=”HLF2025″>{{cite web |title=Han gjorde världens första trombektomi|url=https://www.hjart-lungfonden.se/forskning/stora-genombrott/han-gjorde-varldens-forsta-trombektomi/|website=Hjärt-Lungfonden|date=11 May 2025|access-date=28 January 2026|language=sv}}</ref> |
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In a 2025 interview published by the Swedish Heart-Lung Foundation, Wikholm described the first procedure as occurring during endovascular coiling for a ruptured intracranial aneurysm, when an artery that had been open before the procedure became occluded by a clot; under time pressure, he chose to use a catheter-delivered micro-snare (normally used to retrieve dislodged coils) to remove the clot and reopen the artery.<ref name=”HLF2025″ /> |
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===Early publications and later adoption=== |
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A 2017 overview published in the journal of the Swedish Society of Medical Radiology (SFMR) credited Wikholm with the first description (in 1998) of endovascular thrombectomy as a treatment for acute ischemic stroke.<ref name=”SFMR2017″>{{cite report |title=Retrospektiv uppföljning av trombektomi vid akut ischemisk stroke i jämförelse av patientutfall |url=https://slf.se/sfmr/app/uploads/2023/02/SFMR_IM1_2017_Web.pdf |publisher=Svensk Förening för Medicinsk Radiologi (SFMR) |date=2017 |access-date=28 January 2026 |language=sv |page=21}}</ref> Thrombectomy is a major advance for acute ischemic stroke after several randomized controlled trials reported positive results in 2015.<ref name=”SFMR2017″ /><ref>{{cite news |title=Den svenske pionjärens förutsägelse slog in |url=https://www.dagensmedicin.se/opinion/kronika/den-svenske-pionjarens-forutsagelse-slog-in/ |access-date=28 January 2026 |work=www.dagensmedicin.se |language=sv}}</ref> |
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A 2002 review article in ”Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine” described Wikholm’s 1998 paper as the earliest published report of embolectomy for acute stroke treatment.<ref name=”Gomez2002″>{{cite journal |last=Gomez |first=Camilo R. |last2=Orr |first2=Sean C. |last3=Soto |first3=Rodney D. |title=Neuroendovascular rescue: Interventional treatment of acute ischemic stroke |journal=Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine |date=October 2002 |volume=4 |pages=405–419 |doi=10.1007/s11936-002-0020-6 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11936-002-0020-6 |access-date=28 January 2026}}</ref> |
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==Legacy== |
==Legacy== |
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Revision as of 19:57, 29 January 2026
Swedish neuroradiologist
Gunnar Wikholm (1948-2025[4]) was a Swedish physician and interventional neuroradiologist who worked at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden.[1] He was a pioneer in catheter-based mechanical removal of intracranial blood clots.[5][2] Specifically, he is credited for using Amplatz GooseNeck snare for removal of a blood clot in the brain in 1994.[6]
Early life and education
Wikholm was born and raised in Örebro.[1] He began his medical studies in Lund and continued them in Gothenburg.[1] He completed an internship in Nyköping and trained in radiology.[1] In 1995, he received a PhD in diagnostic radiology; his thesis concerned the role of transarterial embolization in the management of cerebral arteriovenous malformations.[1]
Career
Early in his career, Wikholm joined the interventional unit at Sahlgrenska University Hospital, which was established in the 1980s by neuroradiologist Pål Svendsen and was the first neurointerventional unit in the Nordic countries.[1] The unit collaborated with internationally leading centers, including those in Boston and Paris, and treated vascular malformations of the brain and spinal cord using embolization, often in combination with neurosurgery and/or targeted radiation therapy.[1]
Contribution to stroke thrombectomy
In 1994, while Wikholm was doing endovascular coiling for a ruptured intracranial aneurysm, an artery that had been open before the procedure became occluded by a clot; under time pressure, he chose to use a catheter-delivered micro-snare (normally used to retrieve dislodged coils) to remove the clot and reopen the artery.[3] He was the first in the world to do so.
Legacy
The University of Gothenburg obituary described Wikholm as a skilled clinician and collaborator who passed on knowledge and techniques to the contemporary neurointerventional unit at Sahlgrenska, which it characterized as operating at a high international standard.[1]
Death
Wikholm died in December 2025 after a period of illness, at the age of 77.[1]
References
