Duke Cardiology News, Updates, Reflections, and Accolades
Volume 107 January 20th 2019
Chief’s message:
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’“ Dr. King once said to an audience in Montgomery, Alabama in 1957. On this weekend as we remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., it is clear that the civil rights leader lived to help those most in need. It is an important ethos that I see everyday in the Duke Heart work. I am struck by the continued efforts among our faculty, staff, and colleagues in the care of people in our community and at the clinical places we work. This includes serving at the food bank, book harvest, open access clinics, health fares, and many faith based community projects. As the month of February starts soon and we officially start “Heart Month,” I wanted to recognize the work of all of our Duke Heart Family. We have much more to do to help our region become one of better health, but it is worth spending a moment reflecting this weekend on the service, support, and joy you all bring to lives in our communities.
Highlights of the week:
Wang Named Vice Chief for Clinical Services, Division of Cardiology
Andrew Wang, MD, professor of medicine in cardiology, has been named Vice Chief for Clinical Services in the Division of Cardiology. He replaces Chet Patel, who was recently named Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs in the Duke Department of Medicine. Wang’s term will begin at the end of this month.
Wang is director of the Duke Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Clinic and a highly respected structural heart disease specialist. He is an active researcher in the area of heart valve disease, including aortic and mitral valve conditions and is currently serving as principal investigator on a number of grants. He has held numerous teaching responsibilities throughout his tenure at Duke, including educational initiatives with the American College of Cardiology and American College of Physicians. Most recently, Wang served as program director of the Duke Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship Training Program from 2007-2018. He is a dedicated clinician and educator who has received numerous awards during his time at Duke, including the 2017 School of Medicine Master Clinician Teacher Award.
An author or co-author on more than 80 publications and 45 abstracts, he serves on the editorial board for American Heart Journal, and is a peer reviewer for more than 15 journals.
Wang earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from Duke University, and completed his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins in Baltimore, MD. He completed his fellowship at Duke, and joined our faculty in 1997.
His commitment to clinical care and clinical research, and his dedication to excellence in education will help strengthen the three priorities in our mission. Please welcome Andrew into this role as we work together toward improving clinical metrics, care access, and standardizing clinical pathways across our division. Congrats, Andrew!
Swamy Joins Duke Heart Team
We are pleased to introduce Rajiv Swamy, MD, FACC, as a new member of the Duke Heart faculty. Swamy officially joined our interventional cardiology faculty as an assistant professor of medicine on December 10; he will perform cardiac and vascular procedures at Duke University Hospital and at Central Carolina Hospital-Duke Lifepoint in Sanford, NC.
Most recently, Swamy worked in a busy academic cardiology and vascular practice at Allegheny Health Network in Pittsburgh, PA and held an academic faculty appointment at Temple University. In Pittsburgh, he worked on numerous committees to improve system processes within cardiology and he has a special interest in growing clinical programs that improve access and treatment choices to patients in community settings.
Swamy’s primary clinical focus is in the endovascular treatment of peripheral arterial disease and most notably in patients with critical limb ischemia. He hopes to use his experience and skills to help deliver greater treatment options and improved care to patients within Duke Health.
After completing his undergraduate degree at Duke University, Swamy earned his MD from the University of Chicago-Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his internship, residency, chief medical residency and his fellowship in cardiovascular disease at the University of Chicago Medical Center. He then went on to complete his fellowship in interventional cardiology and peripheral interventions at New York University School of Medicine.
Rajiv and his wife, Richa Agarwal, MD, a faculty member in the advanced heart failure and transplant group at Duke, have two boys, Sohan (7) and Rahul (4). Their family is very excited to be in Durham and part of the Duke community and are looking forward to establishing deeper roots here.
Please offer a warm welcome to Rajiv when you see him!
Bloomfield Recognized by Circulation
The editors of Circulation, one of the journals published by the American Heart Association, have recognized Duke cardiologist and DCRI member Gerald Bloomfield as an Outstanding Reviewer for 2017-2018. In a letter, the editors Joseph Hill, MD, PhD; James de Lemos, MD, and Darren McGuire, MD, stated that “advances in biomedicine hinge critically on the vital, and often unrecognized, efforts of professionals such as Dr. Bloomfield who devote time, energy, and expertise to the evaluation of emerging science. We cannot publish outstanding – and reliable – content in Circulation were it not for these efforts. As this important work occurs largely behind the scenes, we are notifying you of our recognition of Dr. Bloomfield’s outstanding contribution to the fields of cardiovascular science and medicine.”
Congratulations, Jerry!
Keeping the Heart Young: Proposals to Invest in the Future of CV Research
We had the opportunity to hear from four finalist teams on Thursday evening as they presented their project proposals to compete for funding via the Translating Duke Health: Cardiovascular pillar, part of the Translating Duke Health Initiative. Representatives from each team presented and defended their proposals to translate and transform cardiovascular science at Duke and all did an incredible job. Presentations included:
Communities to Cells (C2C): Promoting Hypertension Resistance in Black Americans (PI: Ebony Eboulware, MD, MPH, Duke internal medicine)
A Population Health Approach to Early Precursors of Cardiovascular Disease: Establishment of the Research to Identify the Early Life Cardiometabolic Exposome (ResILienCE) Cohort (PI: Kevin Hill, MD, MS, Duke pediatrics)
Personalizing Cardiovascular Health: A population approach to promoting CVD resistance and resilience among individuals with obesity (PI: Neha Pagidipati, MD, Duke cardiology)
Cardiac Regeneration Therapy to Restore Ventricular Function (PI: Nenad Bursac, PhD, Duke cell biology and Pratt BME)
The event was held in the Great Hall of the Trent Semans Center. The TDH:CV steering committee will be meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the presentations and determine which teams will be awarded funding. Stay tuned for that announcement.
Great job, everyone and thanks to all who attended!
Watts to Serve as Nurse Manager, DUH Invasive Labs, Effective Feb. 1
Duke Heart is pleased to announce that Elizabeth Watts, MSN, RN, will become Nurse Manager for the DUH Invasive Labs effective Friday, February 1. Elizabeth has served as Interim Nurse Manager for the DUH Invasive Labs since November 20, 2017. Elizabeth joined the Duke Heart team in January, 2014 as a staff nurse in the Duke Electrophysiology (EP) Lab and became the EP Clinical Lead in December, 2015. During her time at Duke, Elizabeth has held a variety of leadership roles. She currently serves as Chair of the Invasive Labs Clinical Practice Committee (CPC); and is a member of Heart Core Safety, Heart Center Clinical Practice Council, and the EP Mentorship committee.
Elizabeth earned a Bachelor of Science in Health Services Management from East Carolina University (ECU) in 2007, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from ECU in 2009 and a Master of Science in Nursing Education from ECU in 2013. She co-authored an article on EP education published in the February 2017 issue of EP Lab Digest (https://www.eplabdigest.com/articles/New-Approach-Electrophysiology-Education) and was a presenter at the 2017 Vizient Clinical Connections Summit.
Please join us in congratulating and welcoming Elizabeth to her new role.
DCMRC Completes Relocation; Now Fully Operational
The Duke Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Center (DCMRC) is pleased to announce it is fully operational in its new location within Duke Medical Pavilion (DMP) on the first floor near radiology. The DCMRC, under the leadership of its co-directors Drs. Raymond Kim and Robert Judd, is the largest dedicated cardiovascular MRI imaging (CMRI) center in the United States with more than 4,000 procedures performed per year. Drs. Kim and Judd are internationally recognized Gold Medal recipients from the Society of Cardiac Magnetic Resonance for their exceptional research and clinical work in the field of CMRI.
The DCMRC’s new location has three new Siemens MRI scanners; two 3.0 Tesla Siemens Vida scanners and the first North American installation of a 1.5 T Siemens Sola. The Sola will offer enhancements in hardware and software to provide imaging information with higher image resolution than previously possible at 1.5 T field strength. The DCMRC is also a Siemens showcase site which brings in physicians from all over America to see the cutting-edge work performed at Duke.
Commonly performed exams include: myocardial viability exam to assess for myocardial infarction and infiltrative disease, as well as accurate determination of left ventricular ejection fraction and structural heart disease; adenosine stress testing to assess for inducible myocardial ischemia; adult and pediatric congenital heart disease, and non-invasive 3-dimensional arterial angiography.
To schedule a cardiac or vascular MRI exam, please call the scheduling line at 919-668-6960.
Cardiology Grand Rounds – updates
This week (Jan. 22) we welcome Paul Wischmeyer from our Critical Care Division who will speak on the role of nutrition in cardiac surgery and cardiac critical care: “Malnutrition is an Emergency in the Cardiology Patient: What Can You Do?” The meeting will begin at 7:15 a.m. in DN 2003.
Upcoming Cardiology Grand Rounds:
- 29: Kory Lavine, Washington University
- 5: Bridgette Christopher will be presenting her research from fellowship
- 12: Blair Grubb, University of Toledo
- 26: Rajesh Vedanthan, NYU (this will be a Global Health Conference)
Upcoming Events & Opportunities:
Feb. 1: Let your color be RED!
On February 1st, Duke Heart will host a booth from 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in front of the Duke Atrium Café (Duke North cafeteria) to celebrate National Wear Red Day for Women. Each year, millions of Americans join together in the fight against heart disease in women by wearing red. This encourages awareness of the issue and provides a call to action to save more lives. We will provide red awareness ribbons (while supplies last), heart health information, heart trivia, a “selfie” station and the opportunity to register for door prizes. Join us as we educate and raise awareness regarding heart disease as the leading killer of women in the U.S.
If your team would like red ribbons delivered in time for Wear Red Day, please complete the form available through this link: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_6Ea625LsZjdBs3j
Feb. 14: Duke Heart at Cameron Indoor: It Takes a Team to Care for Your Heart
Make this Valentine’s Day extra special by joining Duke Heart at the Duke vs. VA Tech women’s basketball game. 7 p.m., Cameron Indoor Stadium, 115 Whitford Drive. Stop by our table on the Main Concourse to meet members of Duke’s Heart Team and learn how to care for your heart. We will offer free heart health risk-factor screenings, stroke education and wellness tips. Compression-only CPR education will also be available.
To receive a special discounted general admission ticket to the game, please visit https://tinyurl.com/y8zaxv4q and enter promo code: HEART.
Please consider volunteering. Duke Health staff members are needed to assist with our heart and stroke health risk-factor screenings from 6:00 p.m. until the end of the game.
To volunteer, please visit https://tinyurl.com/ToVolunteerTakesATeam
Feb. 23: Volunteers Needed for Duke Heart Day at The Sutherland
Our special community outreach event for National Heart Month will be on February 23 at The Sutherland in Wake Forest, NC from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. Volunteers are needed to provide blood pressure screenings with BMI, weight, height and waist circumference measurements. We are also seeking support for event set-up, traffic control, registration, compression-only CPR training, and risk assessment education. Please complete the form below to confirm volunteer availability no later than January 23.
Designated times for volunteer duties are noted in this registration link: https://duke.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_aYmmkdoEO06y6Vf
For more information, please contact Leatrice Martin Short at 919-477-7611.
Have news to share?
If you have news to share with the Pulse readership, please contact Tracey Koepke, director of communications for Duke Heart at tracey.koepke@duke.edu. We would love to hear about your latest accomplishments, professional news, cool happenings, and any events or opportunities that may be of interest to our Duke Heart family. Please call with any questions: 919-681-2868. Feedback on Pulse is welcome and encouraged.
Duke Heart in the News:
January 14 — Christopher Granger
Medscape
AHA Initiative Boosts Quality of Care for STEMI
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/907591
January 14 — John Alexander
Medpage Today
Rivaroxaban Might Not Add Much to Post-CABG Prevention
https://www.medpagetoday.com/cardiology/prevention/77424
January 15 — Stephen Greene and G. Michael Felker
Healio/Cardiology Today
Improved medical therapy may lead to better outcomes in treating HFrEF
https://www.healio.com/cardiology/hf-transplantation/news/online/%7Bdad6878d-3edf-4387-b070-1963b52caf38%7D/improved-medical-therapy-may-lead-to-better-outcomes-in-treating-hfref
January 15 — general Duke mention/Blue Premier deal
WUNC.org
NC’s Largest Health Insurer Reaches Landmark Deal With Five Health Systems
http://www.wunc.org/post/ncs-largest-health-insurer-reaches-landmark-deal-five-health-systems
January 16 — general Duke mention/Blue Premier deal
NC Health News
BCBSNC, major hospitals say they’re coordinating to provide more “value-based” care
BCBSNC, major hospitals say they’re coordinating to provide more “value-based” care
January 16 — general Duke mention/Blue Premier deal
News & Observer
Blue Cross and 5 NC hospitals will now share patients medical data to slow cost increases
https://www.newsobserver.com/news/business/article224554225.html
Duke Heart Publications, week ending 01-20-2019
Shah R, Latham SB, Porta JM, Naz A, Matin K, Rao SV. Bivalirudin with a post-procedure infusion versus heparin monotherapy for the prevention of stent thrombosis. Catheter Cardiovasc Interv 2019. Epub ahead of print.
Secemsky EA, Ferro EG, Rao SV, Kirtane A, Tamez H, Zakroysky P, Wojdyla D, Bradley SM, Cohen DJ, Yeh RW. Association of Physician Variation in Use of Manual Aspiration Thrombectomy With Outcomes Following Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: The National Cardiovascular Data Registry CathPCI Registry. JAMA Cardiol 2019. Epub ahead of print.
Narayan SM, Wang PJ, Daubert JP. New Concepts in Sudden Cardiac Arrest to Address an Intractable Epidemic: JACC State-of-the-Art Review. J Am Coll Cardiol 2019;73(1):70-88.
Califf RM, Hamburg M, Henney JE, Kessler DA, McClellan M, von Eschenbach AC, Young F. Seven Former FDA Commissioners: The FDA Should Be An Independent Federal Agency. Health Aff (Millwood) 2019;38(1):84-86.
Greene SJ, Butler J. Primary Prevention of Heart Failure in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Circulation 2019;139(2):152-154.
Khan MA, Yang EY, Zhan Y, Judd RM, Chan W, Nabi F, Heitner JF, Kim RJ, Klem I, Nagueh SF, Shah DJ. Association of left atrial volume index and all-cause mortality in patients referred for routine cardiovascular magnetic resonance: a multicenter study. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2019;21(1):4.
Bratt A, Kim J, Pollie M, Beecy AN, Tehrani NH, Codella N, Perez-Johnston R, Palumbo MC, Alakbarli J, Colizza W, Drexler IR, Azevedo CF, Kim RJ, Devereux RB, Weinsaft JW. Machine learning derived segmentation of phase velocity encoded cardiovascular magnetic resonance for fully automated aortic flow quantification. J Cardiovasc Magn Reson 2019;21(1):1.
Warraich HJ, Taylor DH , Jr, Casarett DJ, Hasan M, Patel CB, Kamal AH, Harker M, Mentz RJ. Hospice Care for Heart Failure: Challenges Faced by Hospice Staff in a Predominantly Rural Setting. J Palliat Med 2019;22(1):7-8.
Diamantidis CJ, Davenport CA, Lunyera J, Bhavsar N, Scialla J, Hall R, Tyson C, Sims M, Strigo T, Powe NR, Boulware LE. Low use of routine medical care among African Americans with high CKD risk: the Jackson Heart Study. BMC Nephrol 2019;20(1):11.
Navar AM, Roe MT, White JA, Cannon CP, Lokhnygina Y, Newby LK, Giugliano RP, Tershakovec AM, Braunwald E, Califf RM, Blazing MA. Medication Discontinuation in the IMPROVE-IT Trial. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes. 2019;12(1):e005041.
Parikh KS, Sheng S, Hammill BG, Yancy CW, Fonarow GC, Hernandez AF, DeVore AD. Characteristics of Acute Heart Failure Hospitalizations Based on Presenting Severity. Circ Heart Fail 2019;12(1):e005171.
Johnston AL, Vemulapalli S, Gosch KL, Aronow HD, Abbott JD, Patel MR, Smolderen KG, Shishebor M, Spertus JA, Jones WS. Ankle-brachial index in patients with intermittent claudication is a poor indicator of patient-centered and clinician-based evaluations of functional status. J Vasc Surg 2019. Epub ahead of print.
Recent Comments