Vincent M. Litto Memorial Golf Outing for Benefit of NYU Pediatric Cardiology
Herbal Preparations May Produce Adverse Cardiovascular Complications in Children
NYU Medical Center's Pediatric Cardiology Program Develops New Heart Failure Index For Children
New Cardiac Catheterization Equipment
Popular Science Features Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery
Vincent M. Litto Memorial Golf Outing for Benefit of NYU Pediatric Cardiology.
The Vincent M. Litto Memorial Golf Outing, held October 27, 2003, at Battleground Country Club in Tennent, NJ, raised over $40,000 for the NYU Pediatric Cardiology program.
The outing was named for the father of Kimberly Litto, who was born with a congenital heart disease and was first seen at NYU when she was just one month old. Kimberly underwent her first cardiac catheterization when she was fifteen months old and has been followed by Dr. Genie Doyle, Dr. Monika Rutkowski, and other Pediatric Cardiologists at NYU ever since.
As a Partner and Senior Vice President at Cantor Fitzgerald for eight years, Vincent Litto achieved great success as an Over the Counter Security Trader, when his life was taken on September 11, 2001, during the World Trade Center Attack.
Funds raised from this event will be used to help support research and educational programs, especially as they relate to adolescents and young adults living with congenital heart disease.
Donations can be made payable to NYU Pediatric Cardiology, FPT Suite 9-U, NYU School of Medicine, 530 First Avenue, New York, NY 10016.
Herbal Preparations May Produce Adverse Cardiovascular Complications in Children. On Tuesday, October 23, 2001 Michael Artman, MD, FAAP, Director of Pediatric Cardiology at NYU Medical Center presented information at the National Conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) in San Francisco regarding the potential risk of using complementary and alternative medical therapies, particularly the use of common herbs and nutritional supplements, and their adverse implications on the cardiovascular systems of children. According to Artman, "This is a growing national problem. In adults, approximately 50% use some form of complementary medicine. Annual spending is over 5 billion dollars on herbal products and 2 billion on dietary supplements in the US. It is growing with children." To date, there is little documented evidence if these alternative therapies are safe and/or effective. Most products are not standardized, vary wide in concentration and components, and there is little or no data on utilization, prevalence, efficacy, and acute/chronic toxicity in children. One common herb with demonstrated cardiovascular activity is ephedra, a Chinese herb that is a mixture of several different chemicals and used for asthma, weight loss, energy booster. The drugs in ephedra can cause high blood pressure, palpitations, stroke, and death. Garlic, another common herbal supplement, can interfere with platelet aggregation; and some cardiac medications, such as blood thinners, when combined with garlic supplements can increase the risk of stroke or excessive bleeding following surgery. - More - Artman urged the pediatric practitioners not to underestimate the magnitude of CAM (Complimentary and Alternative Medicine) utilization in their parents and to document CAM requests, discussions, and responses in the patient's medical records. " Alternative therapies are potentially quite toxic with minimal benefit and should not be recommended," stated Artman. " Healthcare providers must be alert to potential adverse effects and drug interactions due to herbal medications." Dr. Artman is Professor of Pediatrics and Physiology & Neuroscience at NYU School of Medicine and has authored numerous papers, books, book chapters, and abstracts. He is presently a member of the Cardiovascular and Renal Drugs Advisory Committee of the Food and Drug Administration.
NYU Medical Center's Pediatric Cardiology Program Develops New Heart Failure Index For Children. NYU Medical Center's pediatric cardiology program announced the development of a new standardized method to determine heart failure severity in children. New York University's Pediatric Heart Failure Index (NYU PHFI) was published in the May 7th issue of The Journal of Pediatrics. The study was directed by Dana Connolly, PNP, in collaboration with Drs. Monika Rutkowski, Marcelo Auslender, and Michael Artman, Director of Pediatric Cardiology. Standard index methods for adults, such as the New York Heart Association (NYHA) Classification have been traditionally applied to pediatric populations. These methods are inappropriate for use in pediatrics, because children's bodies are different. They are not simply small adults. Until now, the only existing scale for grading heart failure severity in pediatrics was applicable for infants only. "This index will allow pediatric cardiologists to measure the effect of their treatments, conduct research studies testing new treatments, predict how well patients will do over time, and determine when to intervene with alternative treatments such as heart transplantation," predicts Dr. Artman. The NYU PHFI produces a heart failure score based on signs and symptoms, physiology, and current medications. In a study of 113 children, ages 0 to 17, the index was found to be a reliable and practical measure of heart failure severity. The study's preliminary findings were first presented last May at the American Pediatric Society & Society for Pediatric Research joint meeting in Boston. Gloria's Place of Hope. We continue to work closely with Gloria Weichand to provide care for children with complex heart disease from around the world. On March 28, Gloria was profiled on the NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. This feature story provided an inspiring overview of Gloria's tireless efforts on behalf of these children. Dr. Stephen Colvin, Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU was interviewed and the presentation included video showing many of our doctors and nurses at work with patients brought to NYU by Gloria's efforts.
Gloria Weichand was featured as the "Parent of the Month" by Parents Magazine in the April, 2000 issue. She achieved this distinction because of her dedication and relentless efforts to help children with heart disease. Look for an upcoming issue of People Magazine that will highlight the work that Gloria does with the members of the Pediatric Cardiology and Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Programs on behalf of children with heart disease from around the world.
A National Institutes of Health Grant Award was recently made to Dr William Coetzee to examine potassium channels in the heart. Read more about this on the Molecular and Cellular Cardiology Research Web pages.
Scientist Development Award. Congratulations to Dr. Tomoe Nishitanion receipt of a new grant from the American Heart Association. This is a three year award that will provide support for Dr. Nishitani's research into regulation of potassium channels uin health and disease.
Post-doctoral Fellowship Award was recently awarded to Dr. Lisa Porter (sponsored by Dr William Coetzee). This American Heart Association award will allow Dr Porter to continue her studies into the establishment of important genetic models of human disease.
A National Institutes of Health Grant was awarded to Dr Michael Artman to study factors that control the contractile strength of the immature heart beat. These studies will complement ongoing research (funded by another NIH award made to Dr Artman).
Scientist Development Award. Congratulations to Dr. Colin Phoon on receipt of a new grant from the American Heart Association. This is a three year award that will provide support for Dr. Phoon's research into the use of high frequency ultrasound and Doppler to study the developing cardiovascular system. Dr Phoon is working with Dr. Dan Turnbull in the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine at NYU.
Young Investigator Award. Congratulations to Dr. Colin Phoon, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Phoon received the 1999 Young Investigator Award in Basic Science, Section on Cardiology of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Phoon received this award for his work on "Doppler characterization of dorsal aortic blood flow in the mouse embryo: insights into the early developing circulation".
Established Investigator Award. Congratulations to Dr. William Coetzee, Director of Research in Pediatric Cardiology at NYU. Dr. Coetzee was awarded a prestigious Established Investigator Award from the American Heart Association for his basic research on potassium channels in the heart.
New Cardiac Catheterization Equipment. We continue to move forward with our plans to obtain a new state-of-the-art biplane angiography system for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. All of the quotes have been received and plans are underway to make the necessary renovations for the installation of this new equipment. Keep checking for updates as this important project gains momentum.
Popular Science. The March, 2000 issue of Popular Science Magazine features an article about minimally invasive heart surgery at New York University Hospitals Center. The article describes the innovative approaches to minimally invasive heart surgery that is being pioneered at NYU. For more information, click here.
