June 2018   
 
Drs. Tracy, Solomon, and Mercader Lead Discussions at the Heart Rhythm Society Conference




GW Electrophysiologists, Drs. Cynthia Tracy, Allen Solomon, and Marco Mercader participated in the Heart Rhythm Society's 39th Annual Scientific Sessions, May 9-12, 2018, in Boston, MA. The HRS is the major US medical association for advances in treatment of heart rhythm disorders. This  conference hosts the most prominent international clinicians, scientists, researchers and innovators in the field of cardiac pacing and electrophysiology. Dr. Tracy served on the Heart Rhythm's 2018 Scientific Sessions Planning Committee. Dr. Solomon chaired a session on arrhythmias in athletes: "How I Manage Athletes with Arrhythmias: Case Studies That Illustrate Critical Management Issues."  Dr. Mercader chaired a session on "Effective Management of Cardiovascular Autonomic Disorders," and led a discussion on a syncope (fainting) case study titled: "Patient with Known Epilepsy and New Syncopal Events." 
GW Cardiology Fellows Graduate this June

GW General Cardiology Fellows and Advanced Cardiology Fellows graduated this month and will move forward with their careers in medicine. Drs. Andrew Bradley, Kaitlyn Baron, and Mohammad Gibreal completed their three-year GW general cardiology fellowship. Drs. Bianca Ummat and Regina Lee completed GW's interventional cardiology fellowship. Drs. Ummat and Lee are the GW Division of Cardiology's first all-female graduating class, which is rare in the field of cardiology.  The GW interventional cardiology fellowship program is led by Dr. Ramesh Mazhari. 

Dr. Andrew Bradley is joining the National Institutes of Health to research multimodality imaging including cardiac MR and CT under the direction of Dr. Andrew Arai. Dr. Kaitlyn Baron is joining Holy Cross Hospital as a cardiologist. Dr. Mohammad Gibreal is joining a cardiology practice in the Princeton, NJ area and plans to complete an electrophysiology fellowship in the next few years. Drs. Ummat and Lee will practice interventional cardiology in Lexington, KY and Virginia Beach, VA respectively. 




Dr. Farmer's Research on the Impact of Malpractice Risk on Cardiologists Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease Published in JAMA Cardiology


Dr. Steven A. Farmer's health policy research on " Association of Medical Liability Reform with Clinician Approach to Coronary Artery Disease Management, " was published in June in the Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA) Cardiology. It is well known that physicians often practice defensive medicine to reduce malpractice risk, performing expensive, but marginally beneficial, tests and procedures. Dr. Farmer examined whether capping malpractice awards is associated with clinical decisions involving coronary artery disease testing and treatment in more than 75,000 patients under the care of physicians practicing in states with or without malpractice caps. The data revealed much reduced coronary artery disease testing following adoption of damage caps. These findings suggest that physicians tolerate greater clinical uncertainty in coronary artery disease testing and treatment if they face lower malpractice risk.
GW Cardiology Fellow's Research on E-Cigarettes and Heart Attack published in National Journal


GW Cardiology Fellow, Dr. Talal Alzahrani, research on "Association between Electronic Cigarette Use and Myocardial Infarction," was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Electronic cigarettes have gained popularity of use in the US despite possible promotion of coronary artery disease. Using a national database, Dr. Alzahrani and colleagues compared the use of e-cigarettes in patients with, versus those without a history of myocardial infarction. The authors reported that E-cigarette usage significantly increased the risk having a heart attack.