-  MARCH 2016  -

GW Heart & Vascular Institute Shares Academic Achievements in FY15 Annual Report
  
Completing the Institute's eighth year, we continue to expand our mission of community service, education, and research. In addition to our physicians' high quality clinical care, the programs of the GW Heart & Vascular Institute represent our dedicated faculty's commitment to academic excellence. This annual report highlights our accomplishments in fiscal year 2015 including 75 research publications, our most productive year in faculty research. Thank you to our supporters whose contributions are making an impact regionally, nationally, and internationally. Read our 2015 Annual Report.

Dr. Jonathan Reiner Talks with NBC4 Washington about an AED Bill that Can Save Lives
  
Dr. Reiner is leading a legislative effort - the Cardiac Arrest Survival Act HR4152 - with members of Congress, to increase survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest. Many business facilities and hotels do not have AEDs out of fear of liability even though the device is designed to be used by an untrained, nonmedical person. NBC4 Washington put sixth-graders to the test to demonstrate how easy it is to save a life using an AED. Watch video. 

Dr. Andrew D. Choi's Research Published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology
  
For those patients needing a second heart operation, there can be scar tissue from the first surgery that increases risk for repeat surgery. Dr. Andrew D. Choi, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Radiology is lead author on a study entitled "Prospective Evaluation of Cardiac CT in Reoperative Cardiac Surgery" published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Imaging.  Dr. Omid Fatemi, a former GW cardiology fellow, is a co-author.  This study demonstrates that preoperative Cardiac CT has excellent accuracy in identifying scar tissue from the first surgery and can guide surgeons on how to avoid increased complications when approaching a repeat heart operation. Drs. A. Choi and Robert Zeman, Chairman of Radiology, now routinely employ this Cardiac CT protocol with Dr. Farzad Najam, Director of Cardiac Surgery via a collaborative "heart-team" approach that enables a safer, individualized approach to these higher risk patients.