Weill Cornell physician-scientists played a prominent role at this year's Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association, held in Anaheim, Calif., Nov. 11-14.
Dr. Gotto Presents Two-Year Follow-Up on AFCAPS/TexCAPS
Dr. Antonio Gotto, professor of medicine and dean of the Medical College, presented a two-year follow-up to his well-known AFCAPS/TexCAPS long-term cardiac prevention study, demonstrating the continued safety and efficacy of the cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin for those with normal LDL levels.
First acute coronary events, heart attacks, and deaths from coronary heart disease continued to be markedly lower in the lovastatin-user group. There was no significant difference in cancer development between the statin and non-statin group. There was, however, an observed reduction in melanoma in the statin group, which may or may not prove scientifically significant. The study is noteworthy for enrolling the largest number of women in any coronary clinical trial conducted to date. In summary, lovastatin treatment continues to be safe and effective for primary and secondary prevention in persons with normal LDLs.
Dr. Gotto also introduced, chaired and/or spoke at a number of other AHA or AHA-related scientific sessions, programs and book signings. These included "New Goals in Lipid Management: Emerging Evidence from Clinical Trials"; "Diagnosis of Metabolic Syndrome: Insights from ATP III Guidelines and Beyond"; "Consilience: The Art and Science of Clinical Practice"; "Putting Pleiotropic Effects into Perspective"; "LDL and Beyond: New Therapeutic Approaches to Hypercholesterolemia"; "Exploring HDL-C as a Target of Therapy"; and "A 21st-Century Perspective on Lipid Metabolism: Where Have We Been? Where Are We Going?"
Dr. Gotto was interviewed by several media during and after the AHA meeting, particularly about the latest findings on the use of the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs for cardiac disease prevention. Media included The New York Times, Associated Press, United Press International, Dow Jones Newswire, WGN-TV (Chicago), French TV, Bloomberg Radio, and Smart Health Magazine, among other outlets.
Presentations by Other Weill Cornell Physician-Scientists
Drs. Bruce Lerman, Craig Basson, Jay Edelberg, et al.—Relationship Between Genetics and Arrhythmia/Tachycardia.
Drs. Paul Kligfield, Steven Hao, and Andrew Chai—Physiological Effects of Exercise Training.
Drs. Peter Okin and Mary Roman—Electrocardiographic Prediction of Mortality in Diabetics (The Strong Heart Study); Echo- and Electro-cardiographic Prediction of Mortality (The Strong Heart Study).
Drs. Peter Okin and Jennifer Liu—Relationship Between Antihypertensive Therapy and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (The Life Study).
Drs. Richard Devereux and Mary Roman—Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality in Hypertensives (The Strong Heart Study).
Drs. Richard Devereux, Vittorio Palmieri, et al.—Correlates of Left Atrial Size in Hypertensive Patients with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (The Life Study).
Drs. Jeffrey Borer, Phyllis Supino, Srilatha Atluri, and Andrew Yin—Valvular Heart Disease in New York State: An Emerging Public Health Problem.
Dr. Massimilano Szulc—Advances in Nuclear Cardiology: Determinants of Extent and Severity of Ischemia on STRESS SPECT.
Drs. Jay Edelberg, Shahin Rafii, David Lyden, et al.—Restoration of Senescent Cardiac Angiogenic Activity by Young Bone-Marrow-Derived Endothelial Cells.
Drs. Craig Basson, Carl Vaughan, et al.—Identification of a Human Chromosome Gene Defect for Familial Aortic Aneurysm.
Drs. Craig Basson, Mark Veugelers, Carl Vaughan, et al.—Genetic Bases of Familial Cardiac Myxomas/Carney Complex.
Drs. Craig Basson, Min-Su Kim, Takashi Mikawa, et al.—Genetic Transcription Factors That Are Essential for Normal Heart Development.
Dr. Paul Heerdt, et al.—Right and Left Ventricular Responses to LVAD Support.
Two AHA Awards Won by Weill Cornell Recipients
Two of the highly competitive awards presented at the 2001 AHA meeting went to Weill Cornell recipients. The Laennec Society Young Clinician Award went to cardiology fellow Dr. Jonathan Weinsaft, who solved a 32-year-old woman's long-standing history of heart palpitations with a simple 15-minute tilt-table test and 2 plasma norepinephrine (NE) measurements. The diagnosis: chronic orthostatic intolerance! And Dr. Jay Edelberg, assistant professor of medicine, won the Melvin L. Marcus Young Investigator Award in Cardiovascular Science for his innovative research on "Restoration of Senescent Cardiac Angiogenic Activity."
December 10, 2001
Dr. Antonio Gotto