MUSC Cardiologists Recognized for Research Efforts

Patients who come to MUSC’s Ashley River Tower for treatment of heart disease undergo a sophisticated battery of studies to determine the cause of symptoms and the best treatment options.  Behind the scenes, MUSC cardiologists also engage in critically important research and analysis to determine how to interpret clinical and laboratory findings.  This fall, two prestigious national cardiology journals will have published the results of those studies.

Dr. Michael Zile and his colleagues published an important article in last month’s edition of Circulation.  The study, Transition From Chronic Compensated to Acute Decompensated Heart Failure, analyzed the role that elevated diastolic pressure plays in chronic and acute heart failure.  Diastolic pressure reflects the pressure in the circulatory system when the heart is at rest.  Heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65.

Dr. Michael Gold recently participated as one of four physicians world wide on the REVERSE Study Steering Committee, which designed and just released the first study to show the benefit of biventricular pacing in mild heart failure.  This study demonstrates that pacing in select groups of patients with mild heart failure can prevent hospitalizations and improve heart function.  This week Dr. Gold has been honored as the prestigious Richard and Lynn Cheney Visiting Professor at George Washington University.

Related Podcasts


From the Department of

Cardiology, Nov. 24, 2008

Dr. Zile: Diagnosis and Treatment Options for Heart Failure

Dr. Zile: The Two Types of Heart Failure - Systolic and Diastolic

Dr. Zile: What is Congestive Heart Failure?