By Trevor M. Feinstein, MD
When Georgia CORE was founded in 2003, the state of Georgia faced the challenge of overcoming the perception that better cancer care was available elsewhere. Neighboring states each had at least one National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, while Georgia the largest state east of the Mississippi River struggled with high cancer incidence, a ... Continue Reading
By Michael Hoosien, MD
It has been almost seven decades since the initial development of the first implantable cardiac pacemakers in the late 1950’s, with immense and rapid technological development subsequently leading to dramatic changes in the design and use of cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIED’s) around the globe. The last two decades in particular have seen the introduction of ... Continue Reading
By Amit D. Shah, MD, PhD
Atrial fibrillation, defined as a supraventricular arrhythmia with uncoordinated activation and ineffective contraction, is the most common arrhythmia in the United States, and it continues to increase in incidence and prevalence. Two potential sequelae of atrial fibrillation are risk of stroke and significant symptoms that lower quality of life. So, in general, goals of ... Continue Reading
By Ahmadreza Karimianpour, DO, FACC, FHRS
Ventricular tachycardia (VT) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with structural heart disease. Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) reduce sudden cardiac death but do not prevent recurrent VT, which leads to hospitalizations and impaired quality of life. Catheter ablation has emerged as a central strategy in VT management, with multiple ... Continue Reading
By Deepthy Varghese, DNP, APRN, NP-C
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia worldwide, driving stroke, heart failure, cognitive decline, and premature death, while profoundly affecting quality of life.¹ Catheter ablation is now a cornerstone for rhythm control, often outperforming antiarrhythmic drugs in selected patients.² Yet in real-world practice, ablation and pharmacologic therapy ... Continue Reading
By Ashish A. Bhimani, MD, FHRS, FACC
Atrial fibrillation (AF) and heart failure (HF) are intertwined at so many levels, and each is both a major cause of and result of the other. This interplay is complex and incorporates many pathological mechanisms, but needless to say, the patient presenting with both AF and HF is an important cohort worth a more detailed review. One of the key issues is trying to sort out ... Continue Reading
By Eduardo Quintero, MD
A healthy young woman suddenly feels her heart pounding in her chest during a stressful work meeting. She becomes lightheaded, her smartwatch shows a heart rate of 190 beats per minute, and by the time she reaches urgent care, the episode has stopped. She has had similar infrequent events before, but now they seem to be occurring more often. For many patients this is their ... Continue Reading
By Sandeep K. Goyal, MD, FHRS, FACC
Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common sustained arrhythmia worldwide and confers roughly a fivefold increase in ischemic stroke risk.1 In non-valvular AF (NVAF), thrombus arises predominantly in the left atrial appendage (LAA), which accounts for the vast majority of cardioembolic sources. “Valvular AF” is a specific term: it refers to AF in the setting of moderate–severe ... Continue Reading
By Stacy Westerman, MD, MPH
Modern day cardiology care is a multidisciplinary subspecialty, encompassing the heart’s pump function, its blood supply via the coronary arteries, valvular integrity, and the electrical system. The field of cardiology is constantly evolving and is a true collaborative endeavor. Cardiac electrophysiology (EP) is the discipline dedicated to identifying and treating disorders of ... Continue Reading
By Barry Silverman, MD
In the age of advanced technology and groundbreaking medical treatments, it might seem unnecessary to stress the importance of good manners in healthcare. After all, many of us entered this profession with the goal of helping people, driven by compassion and the desire to alleviate suffering. We've been taught basic etiquette by our parents, and we assume that our role as ... Continue Reading
By Dhaval Desai, MD
Hot, dripping sweat, donned in maximal personal protective equipment (PPE) with a gown, mask, face shield, essentially screaming to a patient trying to gather more history on their respiratory illness, which was suspected to be COVID. They were deemed a "PUI" or person under investigation since there was a high probability that they would test positive for COVID. It was the ... Continue Reading
By Steven C. Kim. MD
There are currently over 100,000 patients on the organ transplant waitlist in the United States, with an estimated 17 deaths occurring every day as patients await suitable life-saving organs. For decades, the demand for organs in transplantation has outpaced the availability of organs. While there have been significant improvements in organ preservation techniques that have ... Continue Reading
By Sagar Damle, MD; Karolis Bauza, MD, PhD; and Ezequiel Molina, MD
Adult heart transplantation became a reality on Dec. 3, 1967, a date etched into the minds of cardiac transplant surgeons. On that day, Christiaan Barnard was the first surgeon to perform a human-to-human heart transplant. Since then, evolution and advancements in the procedure have followed periods of intense exciting activity and growth in the field, followed by periods of ... Continue Reading
By Brittany Hall, BSN, RN, CCRN; Hope Weed, BSN, RN; and Clark Kensinger, MD
Donor care units are specialized intensive care facilities that play an increasingly critical role in the complex process of organ donation and transplantation. These centers are designed to evaluate and manage organ donors with the primary goal of maximizing organ availability and ensuring optimal transplant outcomes for patients in need of life-saving transplants. In 2022, ... Continue Reading
By Giri Vedula, MD
Liver transplantation is a life-saving intervention for patients with end-stage liver disease, acute liver failure, select metabolic disorders and certain malignancies. Traditionally, donor livers have been preserved using static cold storage (SCS), a method that involves flushing the liver with a preservation solution and keeping it at low temperatures (typically around 4¡C or ... Continue Reading
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