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Dr. George S. Abela is a clinician scientist, Professor of Medicine and Chief of the Cardiology Division at Michigan State University. [1]
Abela has a master's degree in cardiovascular pharmacology, an M.D. from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon and an MBA from Michigan State University. He completed his residency and internship in medicine at Emory University and his fellowship in cardiology at the University of Florida. [2] He then worked as an associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, [3] and was a director of Interventional Research and Cardiovascular Photobiology Laboratory at Deaconess Hospital as well as co-director of the Institute for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at Harvard Medical School. During his tenure at Michigan State University, he served in different positions including Laboratory Director, Chief of the Division of Cardiology, Professor of Medicine, and Program Director for Cardiovascular Fellowship training program.. [4] [5] [6] [7]
His research interests include atherosclerosis, platelet aggregation, vascular injury, plaque rupture, imaging atherosclerotic plaque, and thrombosis. Abela's laboratory studies the role of cholesterol crystals in plaque rupture and thrombosis leading to heart attacks and strokes. [8] This led to the discovery that when cholesterol changes from a liquid to a solid crystal phase its greater volume leads to arterial wall tears; by avoiding alcohol use in tissue processing for microscopy, the role of cholesterol crystal injury became evident. He also conducted research on laser systems for the treatment of cardiovascular disease and on the rare and serious unforeseen complication of lesions during Balloon angioplasty (CBA).
Abela was the recipient of the 1998 Caroline and William Mark Memorial Award by the American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery. [9]
Additional awards include the Ellet Drake Lectureship Award, Mark B. Award, Distinguished Research Mentor Award and Outstanding Clinician Award. He is a fellow of American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, Royal Society of Medicine. [10] [11]
Some of his patents include;
Coronary artery disease (CAD), also called coronary heart disease (CHD), ischemic heart disease (IHD), myocardial ischemia, or simply heart disease, involves the reduction of blood flow to the heart muscle due to build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries of the heart. It is the most common of the cardiovascular diseases. Types include stable angina, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. A common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck, or jaw. Occasionally it may feel like heartburn. Usually symptoms occur with exercise or emotional stress, last less than a few minutes, and improve with rest. Shortness of breath may also occur and sometimes no symptoms are present. In many cases, the first sign is a heart attack. Other complications include heart failure or an abnormal heartbeat.
Angioplasty, also known as balloon angioplasty and percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA), is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to widen narrowed or obstructed arteries or veins, typically to treat arterial atherosclerosis. A deflated balloon attached to a catheter is passed over a guide-wire into the narrowed vessel and then inflated to a fixed size. The balloon forces expansion of the blood vessel and the surrounding muscular wall, allowing an improved blood flow. A stent may be inserted at the time of ballooning to ensure the vessel remains open, and the balloon is then deflated and withdrawn. Angioplasty has come to include all manner of vascular interventions that are typically performed percutaneously.
Atherosclerosis is a pattern of the disease arteriosclerosis in which the wall of the artery develops abnormalities, called lesions. These lesions may lead to narrowing due to the buildup of atheromatous plaque. At onset there are usually no symptoms, but if they develop, symptoms generally begin around middle age. When severe, it can result in coronary artery disease, stroke, peripheral artery disease, or kidney problems, depending on which arteries are affected.
Arteriosclerosis is the thickening, hardening, and loss of elasticity of the walls of arteries. This process gradually restricts the blood flow to one's organs and tissues and can lead to severe health risks brought on by atherosclerosis, which is a specific form of arteriosclerosis caused by the buildup of fatty plaques, cholesterol, and some other substances in and on the artery walls. It can be brought on by smoking, a bad diet, or many genetic factors.
Interventional cardiology is a branch of cardiology that deals specifically with the catheter based treatment of structural heart diseases. Andreas Gruentzig is considered the father of interventional cardiology after the development of angioplasty by interventional radiologist Charles Dotter.
Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart attack.
An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall.
Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or intravascular echocardiography is a medical imaging methodology using a specially designed catheter with a miniaturized ultrasound probe attached to the distal end of the catheter. The proximal end of the catheter is attached to computerized ultrasound equipment. It allows the application of ultrasound technology, such as piezoelectric transducer or CMUT, to see from inside blood vessels out through the surrounding blood column, visualizing the endothelium of blood vessels.
A vulnerable plaque is a kind of atheromatous plaque – a collection of white blood cells and lipids in the wall of an artery – that is particularly unstable and prone to produce sudden major problems such as a heart attack or stroke.
Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a syndrome due to decreased blood flow in the coronary arteries such that part of the heart muscle is unable to function properly or dies. The most common symptom is centrally located pressure-like chest pain, often radiating to the left shoulder or angle of the jaw, and associated with nausea and sweating. Many people with acute coronary syndromes present with symptoms other than chest pain, particularly women, older people, and people with diabetes mellitus.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cardiology, the branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the human heart. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular heart disease and electrophysiology. Physicians who specialize in cardiology are called cardiologists.
Coronary ischemia, myocardial ischemia, or cardiac ischemia, is a medical term for a reduced blood flow in the coronary circulation through the coronary arteries. Coronary ischemia is linked to heart disease, and heart attacks. Coronary arteries deliver oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. Reduced blood flow to the heart associated with coronary ischemia can result in inadequate oxygen supply to the heart muscle. When oxygen supply to the heart is unable to keep up with oxygen demand from the muscle, the result is the characteristic symptoms of coronary ischemia, the most common of which is chest pain. Chest pain due to coronary ischemia commonly radiates to the arm or neck. Certain individuals such as women, diabetics, and the elderly may present with more varied symptoms. If blood flow through the coronary arteries is stopped completely, cardiac muscle cells may die, known as a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired. About 30% of people have atypical symptoms. Women more often present without chest pain and instead have neck pain, arm pain or feel tired. Among those over 75 years old, about 5% have had an MI with little or no history of symptoms. An MI may cause heart failure, an irregular heartbeat, cardiogenic shock or cardiac arrest.
A diagnosis of myocardial infarction is created by integrating the history of the presenting illness and physical examination with electrocardiogram findings and cardiac markers. A coronary angiogram allows visualization of narrowings or obstructions on the heart vessels, and therapeutic measures can follow immediately. At autopsy, a pathologist can diagnose a myocardial infarction based on anatomopathological findings.
Christodoulos I. Stefanadis is Professor of Cardiology in the Medical School of the University of Athens. Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Emory University, Atlanta U.S.A.Professor of Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA. He has been recognised as the top researcher in the field of Cardiovascular medicine in the last 20 years with the most original research publications in peer review journals. Some of his main research interests include coronary heart disease, detection and treatment of vulnerable atheromatic plaque, aortic elastic properties, mitral valve disease, interventional treatment of resistant hypertension and designing many catheter types used for various diagnostic and therapeutic interventional procedures.
James S. Forrester III is an American cardiologist. Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he received his medical training at the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, and Harvard University. During the 1970s through 1990s, his research led to three major advancements in the practice of cardiology. Later in his career, he would return to UCLA, this time as a professor, while simultaneously being the Chief of the Division of Cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Forrester has published hundreds of papers and manuscripts dealing with the subject of cardiology, and is the recipient of numerous awards, including being the second person to ever receive the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American College of Cardiology in 2009.
Ulf Landmesser is a German specialist for cardiology and internal medicine. He is professor at the Institute for Health Research in Berlin and Head of the Medical Clinic of Cardiology at the Charité in Berlin. Landmesser is known for his work on coronary interventions and modern methods of catheter-based heart valve therapy.
Donald S. Baim was a researcher and clinician in the field of interventional cardiology. Baim's primary research focused on coronary blood flow, catheter intervention in heart disease, and congestive heart failure. His work helped to shift the use of catheters from a purely diagnostic tool to a therapeutic tool. After receiving a medical degree from Yale and initial medical training, residency and a fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center, Baim spent the bulk of his career at Beth Israel Hospital and at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. In 1993, Baim founded the Beth Israel Hospital's Cardiovascular Data Analysis Center (CDAC) -- later to be named Harvard Clinical Research Institute (HCRI). Baim died of cancer in November 2009. In October 2016, HCRI changed its name to the Baim Institute for Clinical Research.
A cholesterol crystal is a solid, crystalline form of cholesterol found in gallstones and atherosclerosis. Gallstones occurring in industrialized societies typically contain more than 70-90% cholesterol by weight, much of which is crystalline. Cholesterol crystals are a hallmark of atherosclerosis, which is believed to be an early cause of atherosclerotic inflammation. Cholesterol phase transition from liquid to crystalline form is linked to inflammation. Cholesterol crystals are believed to induce inflammation by activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome.
Arterial occlusion is a condition involving partial or complete blockage of blood flow through an artery. Arteries are blood vessels that carry oxygenated blood to body tissues. An occlusion of arteries disrupts oxygen and blood supply to tissues, leading to ischemia. Depending on the extent of ischemia, symptoms of arterial occlusion range from simple soreness and pain that can be relieved with rest, to a lack of sensation or paralysis that could require amputation.
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