HEART MONTH TIP SHEET: Topics and Experts From the Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai

Los Angeles (January 27, 2022)  --

Newswise — Society of Thoracic Surgeons Conference—Joanna Chikwe, MD, founding chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery and the Irina and George Schaeffer Distinguished Chair in Cardiac Surgery at Cedars-Sinai, will lead the society’s 58^th annual meeting and can discuss new research presented at the conference Jan. 29-30. Chikwe was recently named the new editor-in-chief of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery and its soon-to-be-launched open access journal, Annals Short Reports.

·      New Data on COVID-19-Related Lung Transplants—Amy Roach, MD, a general surgery resident and Nagel Research Fellow in the Department of Cardiac Surgery, and Chikwe, can discuss new research about lung transplantation that was published Jan. 26, 2022, in The New England Journal of Medicine. The research shows that patients with severe lung damage from COVID-19 benefited from lung transplants and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or ECMO. 

·      Robotic and Minimally Invasive Lung Transplants: Pedro Catarino, MD, director of Aortic Surgery in the Smidt Heart Institute and Dominick Megna, MD, director of the Lung Transplant Program, can discuss new pioneering approaches to lung transplantation, including the first robotic-assisted minimally invasive lung transplant.  

·      National Wear Red Day Feb. 4: Noel Bairey Merz, MD, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, can speak to the underdiagnosis, undertreatment, and inadequate research into women’s heart disease, and the pandemic’s impact on this persistent public health problem. A Go Red for Women photo will be available on Thursday, Feb. 3.

·      Husband-and-Wife Heart Patients: Raj Makkar, MD, vice president of Cardiovascular Innovation and Intervention and the Stephen R. Corday, MD Chair in Interventional Cardiology, and Danny Ramzy, MD, director of Robotic & Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, can talk about a husband-and-wife duo who traveled from Guam to care for their hearts—a great potential Valentine’s Day story.

Smidt Heart Institute experts can also shed light on some of the latest heart-health recommendations, including:

·      A Move Against Hidden Salt: Natalie Ann Bello, MD, MPH, director of Hypertension Research, can discuss the reasons behind the recent Food and Drug Administration guidance for food manufacturers.

·      Low-Dose Aspirin Awareness: Raj Khandwalla, MD, assistant clinical professor and director of Digital Therapeutics, can address new aspirin advice for patients.

·      Ups and Downs of Fish Oil Supplements: Christine Albert, MD, MPH, founding chair of the Department of Cardiology and the Lee and Harold Kapelovitz Distinguished Chair in Cardiology, can discuss risks associated with high doses of these supplements. Learn more here.

·      Broken Heart Syndrome: Susan Cheng, MD, MPH, MMSc, director of the Institute for Healthy Aging in the Department of Cardiology, can discuss Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, a condition on the rise in middle-aged and older women. Learn more here.

Read more from the Cedars-Sinai Blog: Treatment Options for Heart Valve Disease