Vasospastic Angina
Mario J. Garcia
<p>Dr. Mario J. Garcia is an eminent cardiologist and leader in the development and clinical implementation of the most advanced noninvasive cardiac diagnostic technology used around the world today. A physician, researcher and educator, he is known worldwide for his innovative use of noninvasive cardiac imaging in the clinic, such as coronary CT angiography (including some of the earliest studies testing radiation-reduction strategies), echocardiography, and MRI.</p>
<p>Dr. Garcia’s research focuses on why patients with diastolic heart failure have trouble doing physical exercise and the role of screening imaging tests for predicting cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. His cardiac imaging work has contributed significantly to the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease, diastolic heart failure, cardiomyopathies and valvular heart disease. The CT coronary angiography technique avoids the use of invasive arterial catheterization to image the coronary arteries, using instead a modified CT scanner to detect even the smallest atherosclerotic plaques that can cause narrowing of the coronary vessels and lead to deadly heart attacks. Dr. Garcia tested the technology in animal and controlled human studies, which led to increased accuracy and lowered the use of radiation, both of which improved clinical effectiveness. In addition, his research findings have helped to improve the safety of manned space flights and the quality of battlefield medicine.</p>
<p>Dr. Garcia joined Einstein/Montefiore as Chief of the Division of Cardiology in 2010. He holds the Pauline Levitt Endowed Chair in Medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and is Professor of Radiology and Co-Director (with Dr. Robert Michler) of the Montefiore-Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care. As co-director of the Center, Dr. Garcia has focused his attention on the cardiac health of lower income people living in urban areas such as the Bronx, where obesity, diabetes and other heart disease risk factors are common.</p>
<p>Dr. Garcia was born in Argentina and moved to the Dominican Republic when he was four years old. He attended Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Urena in Santo Domingo, where he earned both his bachelor’s degree in premedical sciences and his doctorate in medicine, completing his formal education in 1986, when he moved to the United States to train as an internal medicine resident and then a cardiology fellow at St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He then pursued additional training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Cardiac Nuclear Imaging and at the Cleveland Clinic in Advanced Cardiac Imaging.</p>
<p>After two years as an Assistant Professor at Dartmouth, Dr. Garcia was recruited to the Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Eric Topol (Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA). He was initially a staff cardiologist, but became Director of Echocardiography in 2000, a position he held for the next five years. Under his tenure, the echocardiography program doubled in size to become the second largest program in the United States (behind the Mayo Clinic). Dr. Garcia was actively involved in recruiting new physicians to the program and managing the program’s budget. He also became involved in several entrepreneurial ventures, and brought CT angiography to the Cleveland Clinic. In 2005, he was named Director of Cardiovascular Imaging, leading the Cleveland Clinic to the top of cardiovascular imaging in the country at the time. In 2006, he was recruited to Mount Sinai as Professor of Medicine and Radiology and Director of the Cardiovascular Imaging Center, where he worked with Dr. Valentin Fuster. There, he once again led a successful expansion, developing a strong collaborative relationship with the Department of Radiology, a critical factor in his success.</p>
<p>Academically, Dr. Garcia is an active member of the Boards of Directors of the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, of the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography, and of the Intersocietal Accreditation Council, and he is a past member of the Board of the American Society of Echocardiography. He is a member of the American Heart Association, Circulation Council; a member of the Editorial Board, JACC-Imaging; the Associate Editor, American Heart Association on-line; the Editor of theheart.org Imaging section and the Editor in Chief of theheart.org (Spanish edition); a board member of the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM); and serves on the American College of Cardiology's ACCF Task Force on Clinical Expert Consensus Documents. He is the winner of the Feigenbaum Award of the American Society of Echocardiography (2004); the Inge Edler Award, Madrid, Spain (2001); the Teaching Attending of the year award, Cleveland Clinic Foundation (1998); the David H. Jacobs Research Award of the American Heart Association, Northeast Ohio Affiliate (1997); and the Facultad Universitaria Dominicana Year Award.<br />Dr. Garcia is the author or co-author of numerous books, including the very recent single-author definitive text, NonInvasive Cardiovascular Imaging: A Multimodality Approach (Garcia, MJ, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2010). He has also written multiple book chapters and over 160 papers on many aspects of cardiac imaging.</p>
<p>Dr. Garcia's work has been supported by extramural funding from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense (DOD), the American Society of Echocardiography, the NIH, the American Heart Association, and SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.6pt;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Dr. Garcia is a physician, researcher and educator known for his innovative use of noninvasive cardiac imaging in the clinic, including CT angiography, echocardiography and MRI. His research focuses on why patients with diastolic heart failure have trouble doing physical exercise and the role of screening imaging tests for predicting cardiovascular events such as heart attacks. <span> </span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><br /> <br /> <span style="background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Dr. Garcia’s cardiac imaging work has contributed significantly to the diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease, diastolic heart failure, cardiomyopathies and valvular heart disease. In addition, his research findings have helped to improve the safety of manned space flights and the quality of battlefield medicine. As co-director of the Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care, he has focused his attention on the cardiac health of lower income people living in urban areas such as the Bronx, where obesity, diabetes and other heart disease risk factors are common.</span></span></p>
Diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and pericardial disease.
Validation of non-invasive imaging for the study of cardiac structure and function.
<ol>
<li>Prasad A, Hastings JL, Shibata S, Popovic ZB, Arbab-Zadeh A, Bhella PS, Okazaki K, Fu Q, Berk M, Palmer D, Greenberg NL, Garcia MJ, Thomas JD, Levine BD. Characterization of static and dynamic left ventricular diastolic function in patients with heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction. Circulation. Heart failure. 2010;3:617-626</li>
<li>Fernandez-Friera L, Garcia-Alvarez A, Bagheriannejad-Esfahani F, Malick W, Mirelis JG, Sawit ST, Fuster V, Sanz J, Garcia MJ, Hermann LK. Diagnostic value of coronary artery calcium scoring in low-intermediate risk patients evaluated in the emergency department for acute coronary syndrome. The American journal of cardiology. 2011;107:17-23</li>
<li>Romero J, Xue X, Gonzalez W, Garcia MJ. CMR imaging assessing viability in patients with chronic ventricular dysfunction due to coronary artery disease: A meta-analysis of prospective trials. JACC. Cardiovascular imaging. 2012;5:494-508</li>
<li>Spevack DM, Karl J, Yedlapati N, Goldberg Y, Garcia MJ. Echocardiographic left ventricular end-diastolic pressure volume loop estimate predicts survival in congestive heart failure. Journal of cardiac failure. 2013;19:251-259.</li>
<li>Baber U, Mehran R, Sartori S, Schoos MM, Sillesen H, Muntendam P, Garcia MJ, Gregson J, Pocock S, Falk E and Fuster V. Prevalence, impact, and predictive value of detecting subclinical coronary and carotid atherosclerosis in asymptomatic adults: the BioImage study. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2015;65:1065-74.</li>
</ol>
<p>Mario Jorge Garcia, MD, is Chief, Cardiology, Co-Director, Montefiore Einstein Center for Heart and Vascular Care and Professor, Medicine and Radiology at Montefiore Einstein. Dr. Garcia’s clinical expertise includes the diagnosis and treatment of valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathies and pericardial disease.</p><p>After completing his Bachelor in Premedical Sciences at Universidad Nacional Pedro Henriquez Ureña, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Dr. Garcia continued at the institution to earn his Doctorate in Medicine in 1986. He completed a year as a physician assistant with the AIDS national research program at Laboratorio Nacional Dr. Defilló, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic before coming to the United States for further training. At St. Vincent’s Medical Center, he completed his internal medicine residency in 1990 and his cardiology fellowship in 1992. In 1993, he completed his cardiac nuclear imaging fellowship at Massachusests General Hospital and Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, followed in 1994 by his advanced cardiac imaging fellowship at Cleveland Clinic Foundation.</p><p>Dr. Garcia’s research has focused on the validation of non-invasive imaging for the study of cardiac structure and function. He was a pioneer in the adaptation of multi-detector CT technology for coronary imaging. His research has been supported by extramural funding from the National Space Biomedical Research Institute, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Department of Defense, the American Society of Echocardiography, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and the American Heart Association. He is the author or co-author of several books, book chapters and over 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals. He is also a reviewer for several national and international medical journals including <em>Journal of the American College of Cardiology, American Journal of Cardiology</em> and <em>Journal of the European Society of Cardiology.</em></p><p>Dr. Garcia is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, and is a member of several other professional societies. He has received recognition nationally and internationally for his many accomplishments, including the Feigenbaum Award of the American Society of Echocardiography (2004), the Inge Edler Award, Madrid, Spain (2001), and the David H. Jacobs Research Award of the American Heart Association, Northeast Ohio Affiliate (1997).</p>
Kevin J. Ferrick
<p>Cardiac arrhythmia management, cardiovascular risk stratification, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, ablation of cardiac arrhythmias, as well as pacemaker and ICD therapy.</p>
<p>Noninvasive cardiovascular risk stratification, management of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias, ICD therapy and the management of cardiovascular risk, as well as demographic risk factors for atrial fibrillation.</p>
<p>Kevin J. Ferrick, MD, is an Attending Physician, Director of the Holter/ECG Department, Director of the Cardiology Training Program, and Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Montefiore and our <a href="http://www.einstein.yu.edu/faculty/2739/kevin-ferrick/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Albert Einstein College of Medicine</a>. His clinical focus is on cardiac arrhythmia management, cardiovascular risk stratification, ventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, pacemaker and implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) therapy, and ablation of cardiac arrhythmias. Dr. Ferrick joined the Montefiore team in 1992.</p><p>Dr. Ferrick received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering in 1973 from the Cooper Union in New York. In 1977, he received his Doctor of Medicine from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Dr. Ferrick completed an internship and residency in medicine at Montefiore from 1977 to 1980. He then completed fellowships in Clinical Cardiology and Clinical Electrophysiology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York from 1980 to 1983.</p><p>Dr. Ferrick’s research focuses on noninvasive cardiovascular risk stratification, management of supraventricular and ventricular arrhythmias, ICD therapy and the management of cardiovascular risk, and demographic risk factors for atrial fibrillation. His research on these topics has been published in over 100 reviewed journals, abstracts, books, and articles. He has been an invited speaker to numerous national presentations, courses, lectures, and seminars.</p><p>In 2009, Dr. Ferrick was named one of the Best Doctors by<em>New York</em>magazine<em></em>and is currently still one of Castle Connolly’s Top Doctors. He is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and a member of numerous professional societies, including the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association. Healso has board certification in Cardiovascular Disease and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology.</p>
Richard Charney
<p>Clinical Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology</p>
<p>Areas of Special Interest: Treatment of coronary artery disease, ischemic cardiomyopathy, hyperlipidemia, high risk PCI including Rotoblater, LV support with Impella and intra-aortic balloon pump devices.</p>
Dr. Charney's clinical focus is on the treatment of coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure.
Dr. Charney’s research interests follow his clinical focus, and he provides research support on many medication trials.
<p>Richard Charney, MD, is Attending Cardiologist at Montefiore and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His clinical focus is on the treatment of coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure. He practices both clinical cardiology and interventional cardiology, including complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).</p><p>After receiving his Bachelor of Science in 1984 from the City College of New York, Dr. Charney went on to earn his Doctor of Medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of The City University of New York in 1986. His postdoctoral training began with his residency at Mount Sinai Medical Center from 1986 to 1989. He then came to Montefiore Medical Center, completing a cardiology fellowship in 1992, followed by an advanced interventional cardiology fellowship in 1993.</p><p>Dr. Charney’s research interests follow his clinical focus, and he provides research support on many medication trials. His research findings have been published in many reviewed journals and abstracts.</p><p>For a decade, Dr. Charney has been included in Castle Connolly Metro Top Doctors. He has also been listed among Westchester Top Doctors and has been a counselor on the New York State Chapter American College of Cardiology. He is board certified and is a member of several professional associations, including the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Society for Coronary Angiography and Interventions.</p>
Anna E. Bortnick
<p>Dr. Anna Bortnick earned her medical degree and doctorate in Cardiovascular Biology from Drexel University in Philadelphia and a master's degree in clinical research methods from Yeshiva University through the Clinical Research Training Program at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. She completed internship and residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. She joined the Division of Cardiology from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed fellowships in both interventional and general cardiology with a focus in structural heart disease, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Dr. Bortnick's research has been funded by grants from the American Heart Association, Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program and the Albert Einstein Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Her research is centered on cardiac aging, including biomarkers and genetics of cardiac calcification. She co-founded the Maternal Fetal Medicine-Cardiology Joint Program at Montefiore, which has gained national recognition for treatment of high risk cardiac disease in pregnancy, and served as a member of the Einstein IRB and Course Director for Cardiology Grand Rounds. She is the Program Director for the Interventional Cardiology Fellowship Program. Dr. Bortnick is ABIM Board Certified in Interventional Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine and draws upon her expertise in invasive procedures to provide patients with comprehensive care of cardiac disease. </p>
Cardiac catheterization, hemodynamics, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), aortic and mitral balloon valvuloplasty, atrial septal defect and patent foramen ovale closure, intracardiac echocardiography, alcohol septal ablation, pericardiocentesis, endomyocardial biopsy of native and transplanted hearts, paravalvular leak closure, pulmonary vein stenosis, left ventricular pseudoaneurysm closure
index of microvascular resistance in microvascular dysfunction, biomarkers and genetics of calcific aortic stenosis, quality issues in TAVR, intravenous infusion of biologics for the treatment of atherosclerosis
<p><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31048102">Biomarkers of mineral metabolism and progression of aortic valve and mitral annular calcification: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis.</a></p>
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<p class="desc">Bortnick AE, Xu S, Kim RS, Kestenbaum B, Ix JH, Jenny NS, de Boer IH, Michos ED, Thanassoulis G, Siscovick DS, Budoff MJ, Kizer JR.</p>
<p class="details"><span class="jrnl" title="Atherosclerosis">Atherosclerosis</span>. 2019 Jun;285:79-86. doi: 10.1016/j.atherosclerosis.2019.04.215. Epub 2019 Apr 13.</p>
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<p class="title"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30278179">Addressing maternal mortality: the pregnant cardiac patient.</a></p>
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<p class="desc">Wolfe DS, Hameed AB, Taub CC, Zaidi AN, Bortnick AE.</p>
<p class="details"><span class="jrnl" title="American journal of obstetrics and gynecology">Am J Obstet Gynecol</span>. 2019 Feb;220(2):167.e1-167.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2018.09.035. Epub 2018 Sep 29.</p>
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<p class="title"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27411840">Association of inflammatory, lipid and mineral markers with cardiac calcification in older adults.</a></p>
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<p class="desc">Bortnick AE, Bartz TM, Ix JH, Chonchol M, Reiner A, Cushman M, Owens D, Barasch E, Siscovick DS, Gottdiener JS, Kizer JR.</p>
<p class="details"><span class="jrnl" title="Heart (British Cardiac Society)">Heart</span>. 2016 Nov 15;102(22):1826-1834. doi: 10.1136/heartjnl-2016-309404. Epub 2016 Jul 13.</p>
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<p>Anna E. Bortnick, MD, is Associate Director, Structural and Valvular Heart Disease, Program Director, Interventional Cardiology Fellowship and Co-Founder and <br />Co-Director, Maternal Fetal Medicine-Cardiology Joint Program at Montefiore. She is also Assistant Professor of Medicine at our Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bortnick specializes in interventional procedures for high risk patients.</p><p>In 1997, Dr. Bortnick received her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry and molecular biology at Chestnut Hill College. She then attended Drexel University College of Medicine from 1997 to 2005, where she received her Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy. In 2005, she received the Rubin Award from Drexel University for academic and clinical medicine. Following this, Dr. Bortnick received her Master in Clinical Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2018. She began her postgraduate training in 2005 with a year-long internship in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. In 2008, she completed a residency in internal medicine at the same institute. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Bortnick trained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, completing fellowships in general cardiology and interventional cardiology. Upon completion, she continued her training in 2015 at Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine with a fellowship in the Empire Clinical Research Investigator Program.</p><p>Her research focuses on cardiac aging, including biomarkers and genetics of cardiac calcification. Dr. Bortnick’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, articles, books and she has presented her work nationally.</p><p>Dr. Bortnick is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is a member of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology. </p>