René Favaloro standardized in 1967 the coronary bypass using the saphenous vein, making it possible to reroute blood flow around severely obstructed coronary arteries with reproducible results. Few procedures have changed 20th-century cardiovascular survival as much. Although earlier technical precedents existed, Favaloro was the one who turned the technique into a planned, documented, transmissible procedure. He was Argentine by training — he studied medicine in La Plata — but his decisive work took place in Cleveland. He died in 2000 in Buenos Aires, having turned down a fortune to keep operating on patients without resources.