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The American Heart Association (AHA) has selected numerous physician-scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center to present their work at the AHA's Scientific Sessions 2004. The four-day conference began this weekend at the Morial Convention Center in New Orleans.

Below are some of the studies being presented:

The Strong Heart Study

Cardiologists Dr. Mary J. Roman, Dr. Peter Okin, Dr. Jorge Kizer, and Dr. Giovanni de Simone will present findings from The Strong Heart Study during several sessions. In general, the data identifies markers that can signal the risk of heart disease in certain populations. These cues are important because they can offer physicians "signposts" on how aggressively to treat patients with cardiovascular disease.

Findings include how carotid plaque – and not intimal-medial thickness (IMT) or arterial mass – is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease; how the presence of albuminuria in diabetics can be a predictor of stroke; the link between hypercholesterolemia and arterial hypertension; and how ST segment depression in the lateral precordial leads is a strong predictor of new-onset congestive heart failure.

Dr. Roman is professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Okin is professor of medicine and director of clinical affairs in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. Kizer is assistant professor of medicine and public health at Weill Cornell Medical College, and assistant attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. de Simone is adjunct associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

The LIFE Study

Dr. Richard B. Devereux, Dr. Peter Okin, and their colleagues will present findings from The LIFE Study, which examines risk factors and treatments for patients with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Findings include a comparison of Losartan to Atenolol; an evaluation of risk factors and methods to treat congestive heart failure; the role of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP) in determining prognosis; how body build affects the risk of a cardiovascular event; how electrocardiographic strain pattern and albuminuria affect cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; and that regression of electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy is associated with a reduced risk of developing congestive heart failure.

Dr. Devereux is professor of medicine and director of the echocardiography laboratory in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Okin is professor of medicine and director of clinical affairs in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

Repairing a Damaged Heart

Dr. Jay M. Edelberg, along with a team of other physicians from Weill Cornell, will present findings from a study examining how tenascin-C interacts with endothelial cells. The research centers on how a heart damaged by a cardiovascular event could be encouraged to repair itself.

Dr. Edelberg is associate professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology and associate professor of cell and developmental biology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and associate attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

And in another study also focused on repairing the heart, Dr. K. Craig Kent will present findings on how PDGF stimulates both the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and contributes to intimal hyperplasia: the proliferation of cells in a tissue or organ. The study specifically explores how PDGF regulates p27Kip1 in VSMCs.

Dr. Kent is professor of surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and chief of the division of vascular surgery at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.

Stent Length: Results from the TAXUS-IV Study

Dr. S. Chiu Wong and Dr. Mun K. Hong will present their findings from the TAXUS-IV study that explores if a greater stent length to lesion length ratio would produce better clinical outcomes for patients undergoing vascular repair surgery.

Dr. Wong is associate professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Hong is associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and associate attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

Systolic Hypertension and Cardiac Outcome

Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer, Dr. Paul Kligfield, Dr. Mary J. Roman, and several other physicians from Weill Cornell will present their findings from a study that examines how systolic hypertension (SysHTN) and high-risk descriptors of left ventricular size/function can predict the likelihood of a cardiac event. Previous research linked systolic hypertension (SysHTN) with cardiac events, but how to determine the likelihood of an event was left largely undefined.

Dr. Borer is director of the Howard Gilman Institute for Valvular Heart Disease and the Gladys and Roland Harriman Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also director of the division of cardiovascular pathophysiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Kligfield is professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and director of the cardiac rehabilitation center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. Roman is professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

Cryoablation in Heart Surgery

Dr. Charles A. Mack, Dr. Karl H. Krieger, Dr. O. Wayne Isom, and several other physician-surgeons from Weill Cornell will present their findings on the safety of using cryoablation to treat atrial fibrillation during concomitant cardiac procedures.

Dr. Mack is assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and director of the robotic cardiac surgery program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and New York Hospital Queens. Dr. Krieger is the Michel C. Bergerac Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending cardiothoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell. Dr. Isom is chairman and Terry Allen Kramer Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College, and cardiothoracic surgeon-in-chief at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.

Racial Differences and Outcomes of Coronary Intervention

Dr. S. Chiu Wong and a team of physicians from Weill Cornell will present their findings on how a patient's race impacts his/her outcome following percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). The study compares outcomes of black, white, and Hispanic patients who underwent interventions in New York State.

Dr. Wong is associate professor of medicine in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medical College, and director of the cardiac catheterization lab at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Cardiac Arrhythmia: Two Studies

Dr. Bruce B. Lerman will discuss his development of a rabbit model that phenotypically resembles right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) tachycardia in humans, and how a G-protein associated with RVOT has been studied in the model.

And in another study also focused on tachycardia, Dr. Lerman will present how a three-dimensional electroanatomic (EA) mapping procedure can predict the optimal site where ablation of sustained right ventricular outflow tract (RVOT) tachycardia should occur. Dr. Lerman will discuss the advantages of EA over fluoroscopic imaging, which is now considered the gold standard.

Dr. Lerman is the Hilda Altschul Master Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and chief of the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Genetics and Cardiovascular Disease

Dr. Craig T. Basson and several other physicians from Weill Cornell will discuss their study of a Belgian family and several American families who possess a perinatal myosin mutation. The genetic mutation causes a Carney complex variant which is associated with cardiac myxomas (heart tumors), as well as other ailments such as spotty pigmentation and an inability to fully open the mouth.

Dr. Basson is director of cardiovascular research in the Greenberg Division of Cardiology, and professor of medicine and cell and developmental biology at Weill Cornell Medical College. He is also attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

In another study also focused on genetics, Dr. Basson and Dr. Bruce B. Lerman will discuss how they have identified a new disease gene and its common mutations in patients with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). Patients with ARVC often present with unexplained ventricular arrhythmias, syncope, or sudden cardiac death, the most feared clinical manifestation of disease.

Dr. Basson's titles appear in the above paragraph. Dr. Lerman is the Hilda Altschul Master Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, and chief of the Greenberg Division of Cardiology at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.