Stage fright: don't get over it, get used to it

Many can feel empathy with the situation Banerjee describes: facing “a room full of scientists, who for whatever reason, did not look very happy that Read more

Beyond birthmarks and beta blockers, to cancer prevention

Ahead of this week’s Morningside Center conference on repurposing drugs, we wanted to highlight a recent paper in NPJ Precision Oncology by dermatologist Jack Arbiser. It may represent a new chapter in the story of the beta-blocker propranolol. Several years ago, doctors in France accidentally discovered that propranolol is effective against hemangiomas: bright red birthmarks made of extra blood vessels, which appear in infancy. Hemangiomas often don’t need treatment and regress naturally, but some can lead Read more

Drying up the HIV reservoir

Wnt is one of those funky developmental signaling pathways that gets re-used over and over again, whether it’s in the early embryo, the brain or the Read more
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ventricular assist device

Emory/Georgia Tech: partners in creating heart valve repair devices

Vinod Thourani, associate professor of cardiac surgery at Emory School of Medicine, along with Jorge Jimenez and Ajit Yoganathan, biomedical engineers at Georgia Tech and Emory, have been teaming up to invent new devices for making heart valve repair easier.

At the Georgia Bio and Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute’s second annual conference on academic/industry partnerships, Thourani described how he and his colleagues developed technology that is now being commercialized.

Apica Cardiovascular co-founders (l-r) James Greene, Vinod Thourani, Jorge Jimenez and Ajit Yoganathan

Apica Cardiovascular was founded based on technology invented by Jimenez, Thourani, Yoganathan and Thomas Vassiliades, a former Emory surgeon.

Thourani is associate director of the Structural Heart Program at Emory.

Yoganathan is director of the Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at Georgia Tech and the Center for Innovative Cardiovascular Technologies.

The technology simplifies and standardizes a technique for accessing the heart via the apex, the tip of the heart’s cone pointing down and to the left. This allows a surgeon to enter the heart, deliver devices such as heart valves or left ventricular assist devices, and get out again, all without loss of blood or sutures.

Schematic of transapical aortic valve implantation. The prosthesis is implanted within the native annulus by balloon inflation.

At the conference, Thourani recalled that the idea for the device came when he described a particularly difficult surgical case to Jimenez.  Thourani said that a principal motivation for the device came for the need to prevent bleeding after the valve repair procedure is completed.

With research and development support from the Coulter Foundation Translational Research Program and the Georgia Research Alliance VentureLab program, the company has already completed a series of pre-clinical studies to test the functionality of their device and its biocompatibility.

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Quinn Eastman in Heart Leave a comment

Ventricular Assist Therapy Helping More Heart Failure Patients

After a long battle with congestive heart failure, former Vice President Dick Cheney this month was implanted with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in order to help improve the pumping function of his ailing heart.  Cheney, who has had numerous documented heart problems and hospitalizations, undoubtedly opted to have the small internal heart pump installed in order to help him live a better quality of life, and potentially reduce his hospital visits in the near future.

An LVAD is a battery-operated, mechanical pump that aids the left ventricle in pumping blood into the aorta.  Most commonly, an LVAD is installed to help patients survive the wait until a fully-functioning heart is available for transplant. However, in some cases the LVAD is used as a form of destination therapy (in place of a transplant) for patients who are not candidates for heart transplant. In 2006, surgeons at Emory University Hospital implanted Georgia’s first ventricular assist device (VAD) as destination therapy.

“When offering LVAD destination therapy, our goal is to safely integrate patients back to their respective communities and normal mode of living,” according to David Vega, MD, surgical director of the Emory Heart Transplant Program.

“Ventricular assist devices offer new hope and a much greater quality of life for individuals who are not transplant candidates, patients who do not want a transplant or those who may be transplant eligible in the future.”

According to the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) there are more than 3,100 Americans – 34 in Georgia – who are currently awaiting a heart transplant. Regardless of the number of donor hearts available, many patients are not candidates for a heart transplant for a variety of reasons including cancer, personal and religious beliefs, blood clotting problems, and other debilitating health conditions.

“There are approximately five million Americans who suffer from congestive heart failure, with another half million diagnosed each year. Many of these people are limited by the severity of their heart failure, yet are not able to be transplanted for one of many reasons,” adds Dr. Vega. “These devices may be a viable option for many patients, allowing them to resume a much more normal lifestyle and improved quality of living.”

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Lance Skelly in Uncategorized Leave a comment

Ventricular assist devices offer hope for heart failure

Emory doctors are leaders in a “destination” therapy program using ventricular assist devices for failing hearts.

The United Network for Organ Sharing says there are more than 2,900 Americans, 43 in Georgia, who are awaiting a heart transplant. Regardless of the number of donor hearts available, however, many patients are not candidates for a heart transplant for a variety of reasons including cancer, personal and religious beliefs, blood clotting problems, and other debilitating health conditions.

Right now there are about 5 million Americans who suffer from congestive heart failure, with another half million diagnosed each year. Many individuals are limited by the severity of their heart failure, yet are not able to be transplanted for one of many reasons.

With so many people awaiting precious few donor hearts, doctors are working to provide access to Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs). VADs are small pumps that are implanted into the chest cavity and help pump a heart that is no longer able to function properly on its own. This offers new hope and a greater quality of life for individuals who are not transplant candidates, patients who do not want a transplant or for people who may be transplant eligible in the future.

Many patients use VADs as a bridge to transplant – meaning they rely on the device temporarily until a donor heart can become available. Others are candidates for VADs as destination therapy, which means a patient is not a candidate for heart transplant or simply does not want a heart transplant – often because of religious or personal ethical reasons.

David Vega, MD

David Vega, MD

David Vega, MD, professor of surgery, Emory University School of Medicine, and director of Heart Transplantation/Mechanical Circulatory Support at Emory University Hospital, leads the pioneering VAD program. He says VAD destination therapy allows patients to resume many basic activities that they were unable to perform before the VAD.

Recently, Emory University Hospital’s VAD program recently the “Gold Seal of Approval” from The Joint Commission, which accredits nearly 16,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. Emory’s VAD program is the only certified program of its kind in Georgia. Learn more about Emory’s heart transplant program and its 500th patient.

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Lance Skelly in Uncategorized Leave a comment