Cardiovascular Institute
One, diverse academic health enterprise where people come to receive the highest quality heart and vascular care in their community while also enabling relentless innovation that fuels better health for Indiana and beyond. Read on to learn about recent advances in realizing this vision.
Top News
Quality Heart Care: Seven IU Health Hospitals Recognized
Seven IU Health hospitals participating in the American College of Cardiology's Chest Pain - MI registry have received a platinum performance award for 2022. The recipients include IU Health Arnett, Ball Memorial, Bloomington, Methodist, North, Saxony and West hospitals. This award recognizes IU Health's commitment and success in implementing a higher standard of care for heart attack patients and signifies that each hospital has reached an aggressive goal of treating these patients to standard levels of care as outlined by the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association clinical guidelines.
To receive the Chest Pain - MI Registry Platinum Performance Achievement Award, our IU Health hospitals have demonstrated sustained achievement in the Chest Pain - MI Registry for two consecutive years (2020 and 2021), and performed at the highest level for specific performance measures.
IU Health: IC-OS Center of Excellence Award
With the leadership of Dr. Suparna Clasen, we are pleased to announce that the International Cardio-Oncology (IC-OS) Board of Directors has awarded Indiana University Health the Center of Excellence GOLD standard for outstanding professional contributions to the field of Cardio-Oncology, valid for a 3-year period.
Methodist Hospital: Get With the Guidelines Gold Award
In June, IU Health Methodist Hospital was awarded the Get With the Guidelines - Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Gold award for sustained excellence providing care to AFib patients over two consecutive calendar years. The award, presented by the American Heart Association, also recognizes a commitment to following leading-edge treatment guidelines, ultimately reducing stroke risk for patients.
The Get With the Guidelines - AFIB program combines expertise from the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association to provide the most up-to-date and research based guidelines for patient care. As a result, teams at the IU Health Adult Academic Health Center can provide quality care and education to patients.
Certificate of Achievement: Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization
A total of six IU Health Hospitals received the 2021 Certificate of Achievement from the Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization at the annual meeting in Boston, Massachusetts. They are recognized for their performance at the 3 star level in the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) for being committed to improving care and fostering engagement with our patients!
• IU Health Bloomington Hospital
• IU Health Methodist Hospital
• IU Health Saxony Hospital
• IU Health Arnett Hospital
• IU Health West Hospital
• IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital
Patient Experience Monthly Recognition
Based upon feedback from our patients, the Cardiology MMP South clinic has earned the honor of being the IU Health Physicians Specialty Care Top Performer in patient experience for the month of April. Congratulations to Dr. Yazid Fadl and the entire team for delivering the best care and personalized approaches for every patient, every time!
Eric S. Williams, MD, Cardiovascular Fellowship
In honor of Dr. Williams decades of commitment to cardiovascular education and patient care, we are establishing the Eric. S. Williams Cardiovascular Fellowship. Watch for additional information in your email or mailbox during the month of August. Contact our Development Director, Kathryn Red, about this campaign.
Vascular Surgery Fellowship Match Results
May 11th was Fellowship Match Day for the Department of Vascular Surgery. We matched our opening and are excited to welcome Dr. Mohineesh Kumar to our fellowship training Program in 2023! Dr. Kumar earned his medical degree at Indiana University and completed his residency at William Beaumont Hospital.
Kudos
Awards
Dr. Thomas Everett and colleagues have secured a new NIH R01 grant titled: "SKNA as a Biomarker for Cardiovascular Events" based on their development of a new method to non-invasively measure sympathetic nerve activity from the skin. This research program proposes to determine if the nerve activity within the SKNA recordings can be used as a prognostic biomarker for neurological status during targeted temperature management for cardiac arrest and to risk stratify patients for recurrence of atrial fibrillation after ablation therapy.
Prostate cancer is often treated with androgen deprivation therapy which has potent side effects, one of which is atherosclerosis plaque deposition in coronary arteries and increased likelihood of heart attacks. Coronary CT with contrast (CCTA) can identify arteries affected by plaque deposition. Dr. Balaji Tamarappoo and his team have partnered with Dr. Nabil Adra and his team of GU oncologists at IUSCC to learn how androgen deprivation affects coronary artery plaque using CCTA. In this newly funded proposal by the Pfizer Myovant National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) titled, "Personalized medical treatment of coronary atherosclerosis in prostate cancer patients guided by plaque assessment with quantitative coronary CT angiography", they will use advanced computer techniques to measure the amount of coronary artery plaque from CCTA in prostate cancer patients before they begin androgen deprivation therapy. These patients will undergo a follow-up CCTA exam at 1 year which will be analyzed for changes in both the amount of plaque and high-risk plaque features. This will be the first study to directly monitor how androgen deprivation alters coronary artery plaque and will provide information on whether CCTA should be performed in more men with prostate cancer before they begin treatment with these medications.
In the Media
Dr. Khadijah Breathett was quoted in the Forbes' article titled: "Bob Harper's Simple Advice: Know CPR, Save A Life"
The Congenital heart team, including Dr. Stephen Cook, offers patient surgical bridge to transplant in this story featured on the IU Health Facebook page.
Presentations
IU Health had great representation at this year's Society of Vascular Surgery's 2022 annual meeting held in Boston, Massachusetts!
• Lillian Camino and Dr. Raghu Motaganahalli received the Winner of Best Poster for their presentation titled: "Use of VQI Registry to Implement Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) for Atherectomy in Peripheral Vascular Interventions (PVI)".
• As President Elect, Dr. Michael Dalsing moderated the Stanley Crawford Critical Issues Forum, providing a short introduction for 7 pertinent talks that followed and then a discussion.
• During the plenary session: "Care for All - An Aspiration Goal of Merit", Dr. Andrew Gonzalez gave a talk titled: "Urban Vascular Care Deserts: Challenges and Opportunities in Our Own Backyard."
Publications
• Dr. Rolf Kreutz and team recently published in Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography an analysis of access-related clinical outcomes in 26,111 IU Health patients undergoing heart catheterization through the femoral artery. Use of a femoral artery closure device, with some differences across available devices, was associated with significantly less access site complications and bleeding events in those undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Kudos to IU Health interventional cardiologists reducing femoral complications with such devices while also choosing radial access first per recommendations of the IUH Coronary/Ischemic Heart Disease Quality and Clinical Effectiveness Council.
• Dr. Richard Kovacs and Dr. Asad Torabi prove that the use of standardized athlete interpretation criteria can help improve the accuracy of detecting abnormal ECGs in athletes in their recent study published in the American Heart Journal Plus.
• In this JAMA Cardiology case report, Dr. Asad Torabi, Dr. Mark Kauth and Dr. Takeki Suzuki describe a young man with syncope. Initial electrocardiogram on presentation showed type 1 Brugada ECG morphology and the diagnosis of Brugada Syndrome was made. This case highlights the importance of the recognition of the Brugada type 1 pattern as a potential cause of cardio-arrhythmogenic syncope.
Upcoming Events
THE JOAN AND DOUGLAS ZIPES VISITING PROFESSORSHIP FEATURING:
Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM
Robert Dawson Evans Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine
"Time to Double Down on Preventing Atrial Fibrillation and Its Complications"
September 27, 2022: Lecture 4:30-5:30pm
Goodman Hall Neuroscience Auditorium
362 W. 15th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202
This will be followed by a reception and short State of the CVI update by
CVI Physician Director, Dr. Subha Raman.
We hope to see you there!
Do you have a story that reflects the strength of our statewide system for cardiovascular care?
Please email OneIUCV@iu.edu so we can share with the team!
