When a young patient under the care of WashU Medicine physicians Amit Pawale, MD, and Joel Schilling, MD, PhD, was admitted to the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital with heart failure, time was of the essence.
Justin Vader, MD, a WashU Medicine cardiologist and heart failure specialist at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, often sees patients with heart failure who are so sick by the time they enter care at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, that they require extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Fortunately, the heart failure team is often able to stabilize such patients and transition them to a platform of support with a temporary heart pump, allowing patients to rehabilitate in the intensive care unit with the goal of either recovering cardiac function, undergoing a heart transplant or another procedure that may be appropriate for the patient’s needs.
Richard Bach, MD, Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center, and Jasvindar Singh, MD, Section Head of Interventional and Structural Cardiology, have both received the 2025 Neville Grant Award for Clinical Excellence.
Faculty and other members of the Diwan Lab, including Professor of Medicine and Chief of Cardiology at the St. Louis VA Hospital Abhinav Diwan, MD, have published a new paper titled “Phosphorylation of CRYAB induces a condensatopathy to worsen post–myocardial infarction left ventricular remodeling”. The work was chosen for the cover feature of the latest issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
At the American College of Cardiology Scientific Session in Chicago last month, two of our WashU Cardiovascular Fellows took their FIT Jeopardy team all the way to the finals and won, beating out the Arizona chapter! Second-year fellow Shreyas Venkataraman, MD and Advanced Heart Failure Fellow Raja Zaghlol, MD were both on the Missouri FIT (Fellows In Training) team that took first place at the yearly competition.
Associate Professor of Medicine Nishath Quader, MD was recently announced as the Section Editor of Cardiovascular Images at Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, an American Heart Association Journal.
Your guide to catching our Washington University Cardiovascular faculty and fellows at the AHA Scientific Sessions in Chicago!
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Barnes-Jewish Hospital recognized six Department of Medicine internal medicine residents and fellows, including Third-Year Cardiovascular fellow Walter Schiffer, MD, with the 2023 Knowlton Incentive for Excellence Award.
Drs. Sharon Cresci and Richard Bach of the Washington University School of Medicine Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center acted as moderators at the 2023 Hypertrophy Cardiomyopathy Society (HCMS) Scientific Sessions in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Cresci moderated a panel discussion entitled “I’ve found the intermediate biomarker of HCM disease progression!”, and Dr. Bach moderated the lecture session “Defining […]
Drs. Karen Joynt-Maddox and Thomas Maddox, both of the Washington University School of Medicine Cardiovascular Division, were recently inducted as members into the American Clinical and Climatological Association (ACCA).
Thomas M. Maddox, MD, a professor of medicine in the Cardiology Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named to the National Academy of Medicine’s Digital Health Action Collaborative. The group fosters improvements and innovation in the ways health data and digital technologies are developed and applied to maximize population-level and patient health.
The Alpha Omega Alpha Executive and Selection committees announce the new faculty, alumni and house officers to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society Class of 2023, including Professor Gregory Ewald, MD of the Washington University Cardiovascular Division. AΩA is the honor medical society recognizing, advocating for, and inspiring physicians in the care of patients […]
Washington University cardiovascular division faculty member Dr. Adam May contributed to “Multidisciplinary Critical Care Management of Electrical Storm: JACC State-of-the-Art Review“, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology this month. The review focuses on the cardiac condition known as electrical storm, defined by “electrical instability with 3 or more ventricular arrhythmia episodes within 24 […]
Zyad Qamer, MD, has joined the Division as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Qamer received his undergraduate degree (BA) at New York University in economics, medical degree (MD) from Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr. Qamer completed an internal medicine residency at Medstar Georgetown University Hospital where he also completed a fellowship in cardiovascular […]
Stunning as it may sound, nearly half of Americans ages 20 years and up – or more than 122 million people – have high blood pressure, according to a 2023 report from the American Heart Association. And even if your numbers are normal right now, they are likely to increase as you age; more than […]
NEW YORK, Dec. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Marfan Foundation is saddened to learn that journalist Grant Wahl has died due to complications of an ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm. Diagnosed, this condition can be treated if people and their health professionals know the risk and manageable complications.
Today, patients with congestive heart failure have more treatment options than ever before, and traditional advanced therapies have greatly improved over the last decade. Nationally ranked in Cardiology and Heart Surgery by U.S. News & World Report, our advanced heart failure cardiologists at the Washington University and Barnes-Jewish Heart and Vascular Center work with patients’ current cardiologists and primary care physicians to provide them with the best possible outcomes.
Just a few hundred years ago, the heart and its function were a bit of a mystery. And when the heart malfunctioned, treatment options were few and often ineffective. Today’s cardiologists offer their patients treatments that can lead to recovery.
To date, an Egyptian man named Nebiri, also known as Chief of Stables, is the oldest-known case of heart failure. Thanks to a German pathologist’s examination of 3,500-year-old mummified remains, it’s believed Nebiri died of pulmonary edema caused by heart failure.
Just a few hundred years ago, the heart and its function were a bit of a mystery. And when the heart malfunctioned, treatment options were few and often ineffective. Today’s cardiologists offer their patients treatments that can lead to recovery.
To date, an Egyptian man named Nebiri, also known as Chief of Stables, is the oldest-known case of heart failure. Thanks to a German pathologist’s examination of 3,500-year-old mummified remains, it’s believed Nebiri died of pulmonary edema caused by heart failure.
Join faculty members in the Divisions of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Cardiology at Washington University School of Medicine as they unite with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and Ascension St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana for the 4th Annual Heart Team Summit.
This event will begin on Friday, October 21, and conclude on Saturday, October 22, at the Four Seasons Hotel (999 N 2nd St) in St. Louis.
Cardiovascular division faculty members Karen Joynt Maddox (co-Director, Center for Health Economics & Policy) and Gmerice Hammond (Associate Director, Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity) along with their colleagues at the Institute of Public Health will be hosting a seminar October 19th entitield Algorithms of Oppression, presented by Dr. Safiya U. Noble.
Kory Lavine, MD, PhD, received the International Society for Heart Research- North American Section 2022 MCI Leadership Achievement Award, presented in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada at the section’s annual meeting on September 6th.
Three faculty from the Brown School and the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. Louis have received a seven-year $6.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) aimed at improving the health of mothers and children in the St. Louis region. The project, titled “Enhancing Cardiovascular Health Equity in Mothers and […]
Among men diagnosed with COVID-19, those with low testosterone levels are more likely to become seriously ill and end up in the hospital than men with normal levels of the hormone, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Saint Louis University School of Medicine.
The team analyzed the cases of 723 men who tested positive for COVID-19, mostly in 2020 before vaccines were available. The data indicate that low testosterone is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 hospitalization, similar to diabetes, heart disease and chronic lung disease.
Stacey Rentschler, MD, PhD in collaboration with many other Washington University researchers within and outside the cardiovascular division recently received an NIH grant totaling over $3 million to further study a major breakthrough in a non-invasive treatment for ventricular tachycardia. The grant follows a 2021clinical study from Washington University School of Medicine brought together cardiologists, […]
A new study published in the Journal of Electrocardiology this month by Washington University Physician Adam May shows that an automated tool for WCT differentiation can improve the accuracy of the physician interpreting ECGs.
Dr. Alan Zajarias and the team at the Valvular Heart Disease Center have been invited to join the Edwards Triscend 2 pivotal trial, testing the safety and effectiveness of the Evoque valve device in patients with tricuspid regurgitation. The Evoque tricuspid valve replacement system is designed to use an implant to replace the native tricuspid […]
An estimated 1,000,000 people in the U.S. have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Washington University interventional cardiologist Richard Bach, MD, FACC, and his team had exhausted non-invasive treatments for a patient suffering from HCM. Until, that is, Bach enrolled the man, who was in his 50s, in a clinical trial evaluating a drug called mavacamten.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a $6 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to harness new understandings of the immune system to develop innovative therapies for heart failure and the prevention of organ rejection following heart transplantation.
A study in mice — led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis — shows that a new class of compounds the scientists developed can improve multiple aspects of metabolic syndrome. An increasingly common group of conditions that often occur together, metabolic syndrome includes type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, fat buildup in the liver, and excess body fat, especially around the waist. This syndrome often leads to cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.
A new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that a widely used heart failure drug named sacubitril/valsartan is no better than valsartan alone in patients with severe heart failure. The study also provides evidence that the treatment with valsartan may be slightly safer for patients with advanced heart failure.
The Institute for Public Health announces the appointment of Victor G. Dávila-Román, MD, as director of its Global Health Center. He was also named vice chair of global health in the Department of Medicine at the School of Medicine. Dávila-Román is professor of medicine in the cardiovascular division of the Department of Medicine, and a professor of anesthesiology and radiology at the School of Medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Puerto Rico, and has been affiliated with Washington University since 1986.
New research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that radiation therapy can reprogram heart muscle cells to what appears to be a younger state, fixing electrical problems that cause a life-threatening arrhythmia without the need for a long-used, invasive procedure.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a four-year, $8.8 million grant to ramp up research aimed at unraveling how an individual’s risks of cardiometabolic diseases, such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, are influenced by the interaction of specific genes with demographic and lifestyle factors.
Sumanth D. Prabhu, MD, an internationally recognized expert in how immunity and inflammation contribute to heart failure, has been named director of the Cardiovascular Division in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. He also will become cardiologist-in-chief at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and the Tobias and Hortense Lewin Distinguished Professor of Cardiovascular Diseases at the School of Medicine when his appointment begins Sept. 1.
J. Gmerice Hammond, MD, a cardiologist and health policy research fellow in the Cardiovascular Division at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has received a Merck Fellowship Research Award from the Association of Black Cardiologists and the American College of Cardiology.
High cholesterol is the most commonly understood cause of atherosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries that raises the risk of heart attack and stroke. But now, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have identified a gene that likely plays a causal role in coronary artery disease independent of cholesterol levels. The gene also likely has roles in related cardiovascular diseases, including high blood pressure and diabetes.
Since early in the pandemic, COVID-19 has been associated with heart problems, including reduced ability to pump blood and abnormal heart rhythms. But it’s been an open question whether these problems are caused by the virus infecting the heart, or an inflammatory response to viral infection elsewhere in the body. Such details have implications for understanding how best to treat coronavirus infections that affect the heart.
When a patient arrives in the emergency room with symptoms of a heart attack, doctors’ first priority is to restore blood flow to the heart muscle. Over the past few decades, therapeutic advances aimed at getting blood flowing and reducing strain on the heart have improved patients’ chances of surviving heart attacks to more than 90% from 50%.
It is my pleasure to announce that Angela L. Brown, MD, Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiology in the Department of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine has been appointed as Vice Chair for Health Equity for the Department of Medicine. In this new role, Dr. Brown will lead our diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism activities.
Thomas M. Maddox, MD, a cardiologist and professor of medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been selected to serve as a trustee of the American College of Cardiology, an international professional society for cardiovascular care providers. He will serve a three-year term on the board of trustees beginning in April.
Transplant surgeons and researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received two grants totaling $10 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to study how immune cells contribute to organ rejection, with the aim of improving the viability of organs after transplant.
New research in mice suggests that certain immune cells may help guide fetal development of the heart and play a role in how the adult heart beats, according to new research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
High-protein diets may help people lose weight and build muscle, but a new study in mice suggests they have a down side: They lead to more plaque in the arteries. Further, the new research shows that high-protein diets spur unstable plaque — the kind most prone to rupturing and causing blocked arteries. More plaque buildup in the arteries, particularly if it’s unstable, increases the risk of heart attack.
In critically ill patients who require a heart pump to support blood circulation as part of stent procedures, specific heart pumps have been associated with serious complications, according to a new study led by cardiologists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Studying mice, scientists have shown that boosting the activity of specific immune cells in the heart after a heart attack can protect against developing heart failure, an invariably fatal condition. Patients with heart failure tire easily and become breathless from everyday activities because the heart muscle has lost the ability to pump enough blood to […]
New Medicare reimbursement rules provide some relief to safety-net hospitals, shifting the burden of financial penalties toward hospitals serving wealthier patient populations, according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The new rules also reduce the burden of such penalties on hospitals in states that have more generous […]
A diet high in fats and sugars is known for its unhealthy effects on the heart. Scientists now have found that a high-fat, high-sugar diet in mouse mothers before and during pregnancy causes problems in the hearts of their offspring, and that such problems are passed down at least three generations, even if the younger […]
(CNN) Three men with Type 2 diabetes used “intermittent fasting” to reverse their dependence on insulin, according to a report published on [October 9th, 2018] — but you shouldn’t try it without medical supervision, experts say. The new case report says the three patients also lost weight, and their HbA1Cs, a measure of blood sugar […]
A payment system that provides financial incentives for hospitals that reduce health-care costs for Medicare patients did not lower costs as intended, according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers assessed what is called a bundled-payment system, in which hospitals are assigned a target cost for […]
Scientists have zeroed in on a culprit that spurs damaging inflammation in the heart following a heart attack. The guilty party is a type of immune cell that tries to heal the injured heart but instead triggers inflammation that leads to even more damage. Further, the researchers have found that an already approved drug effectively […]