Texas Children's Heart Center physicians to present at American Heart Association national meeting

12 Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine experts will discuss pediatric heart topics 

HOUSTON, Nov. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Cardiologists and a cardiovascular surgeon from Texas Children's Heart Center and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) will serve as presenters and moderators during the annual American Heart Association (AHA) Scientific Sessions held Nov. 16 through 20 in Dallas. Texas Children's Heart Center is ranked #3 nationally in cardiology and heart surgery by U.S. News & World Report. For more information about Texas Children's Heart Center visit texaschildrens.org/heart.

More than 18,000 cardiovascular experts from more than 105 countries will meet to discuss basic, translational, clinical and population science, with an additional 1.5 million professionals attending virtually. The five-day meeting includes 5,000 presentations, 12 of which will be given or moderated by Texas Children's Heart Center experts.

"I'm thrilled that so many of our leading heart center experts are presenting and moderating at this year's Scientific Sessions," said Dr. Daniel J. Penny, chief of cardiology at Texas Children's Hospital and section head and professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM.

The 12 Texas Children's Heart Center experts who will present or moderate throughout the meeting include:

• Dr. Craig H. Alexander, clinical post-doc fellow in the department of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Trends in Endocarditis Hospitalizations: Impact of the 2007 American Heart Association Guidelines on Adults with Congenital Heart Disease.
• Dr. Hugh Allen, pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's and professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will moderate the following session: Heart in the Myscular Dystrophies.
• Dr. Elijah Bolin, clinical post-doc fellow in the department of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Risk Factors for Postnatal Surgery in the Fetus with Borderline Small Left Heart Pediatric Imaging: Ventricular Volume, Mass and Function.
• Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr., chief of congenital heart surgery, surgeon-in-chief at Texas Children's Hospital and professor of surgery and pediatrics at BCM, will present: Prospective Trial of a Pediatric Ventricular Assist Device.
• Dr. Buck Kyle, assistant professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Workforce: Where the Jobs Will Be over the Next Five Years.
• Dr. Silvana Lawrence, medical director, community and program development at Texas Children's and associate professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Echocardiographic left ventricular measures using the area-length method: Normative data by gender and race/ethnicity from the Texas Adolescent Athlete Screening Registry TAAHSR and Pediatric Imaging: Ventricular Volume, Mass and Function.
• Dr. Shiraz Maskatia, pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's and assistant professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Increase Estimated Cardiac Output and Functional Improvement in Fetuses in Response to Laser Therapy for Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome.
• Dr. Doug Moodie, associate chief, pediatric cardiology at Texas Children's and professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will host three Meet the Editor sessions regarding his new textbook entitled: Clinical Management of Congenital Heart Disease from Infancy to Adulthood.
• Dr. Shaine Morris, pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's and assistant professor of pediatrics at BCM, will present: Peripartum Aortic Dissection in Women with Marfan Syndrome Pediatric Hypertension and Lipids and Late Implications of Adult Congenital Heart Disease.
• Dr. Ricardo Pignatelli, assistant professor of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: Left Ventricular Non Compaction 1997-2013: Seventeen Years Later and Morbidity and Risk Factors for Death or Transplant: Pediatric Heart Failure.
• Dr. Joseph Spinner, medical resident in the department of pediatrics at BCM, will present: Utility of Late Gadolinium Enhancement and Left Ventricular Mass as assessed by Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Children with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and Pediatric Imaging: Function and Flow.
• Dr. Hari P. Tunuguntla, clinical post-doc fellow in the department of pediatrics-cardiology at BCM, will present: The Impact of Institutional Stage I Surgical Volume on Mortality, Length of Stay, and Hospital Charges in Infants with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome,  A Review of the Texas Inpatient Public Use Data File from 1999-2012 and Single Ventricle Cardiology: Palliation, Care and Resource Utilization.

"It is very gratifying to see some of the tremendous work being done in the Texas Children's Heart Center highlighted in this prestigious meeting," added Dr. Charles D. Fraser Jr.

About Texas Children's Hospital

Texas Children's Hospital, a not-for-profit organization, is committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked among the top children's hospitals in the nation, Texas Children's has recognized Centers of Excellence in multiple pediatric subspecialties including the Cancer and Heart Centers, and operates the largest primary pediatric care network in the country. Texas Children's has completed a $1.5 billion expansion, which includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; Texas Children's Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; and Texas Children's Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston.  For more information on Texas Children's, go to www.texaschildrens.org. Get the latest news from Texas Children's by visiting the online newsroom and on Twitter at twitter.com/texaschildrens.

Lindsey Fox 
832-824-2040
[email protected]

SOURCE Texas Children's Hospital