Experts from Penn's School of Medicine to present at ACC Annual Scientific Session

Russo studied 1,165 women and men who underwent ablation at Penn and found that both groups had similar arrhythmia control at 24 months after the procedure (84 percent of women and 89 percent of men), suggesting that more women should be referred for ablation therapy.

Women Face Higher Risk for Decline in Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Following Orthotopic Liver Transplant

James N. Kirkpatrick, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
10 a.m., Tuesday, April 1

Chronic liver disease patients often have low systemic vascular resistance that causes low blood pressure before liver transplant, but after receiving a new liver, they may suffer post-operative heart problems that leave the left ventricle unable to pump out an adequate amount of blood. This situation puts patients at a greater risk of organ failure and death.

Dr. Kirkpatrick and his colleagues studied 80 patients who received an orthotopic liver transplant – the procedure in which the patient’s native liver is removed and replaced with a donor organ in the same spot – to determine who would be more likely to suffer post-transplant complications of the left ventricle.

Researchers found that female patients were more likely to exhibit a left ventricular ejection fraction depression following transplant, with 36.7 percent of women suffering the complication, compared to 16 percent of men.

Kirkpatrick believes that careful pre-operative ventricular assessment may help identify patients who could benefit from careful monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate and volume status, and, possibly, serial echocardiograms. Some of these patients may benefit from aggressive treatment with medications like ACE-inhibitors and beta blockers. The Penn researchers plan to test newer echocardiographic techniques before and after transplant to refine ways to identify these patients.

PENN Medicine is a $3.5 billion enterprise dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, and excellence in patient care. PENN Medicine consists of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (founded in 1765 as the nation's first medical school) and the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

Penn's School of Medicine is currently ranked #3 in the nation in U.S.News & World Report's survey of top research-oriented medical schools; and, according to most recent data from the National Institutes of Health, received over $379 million in NIH research funds in the 2006 fiscal year. Supporting 1,400 fulltime faculty and 700 students, the School of Medicine is recognized worldwide for its superior education and training of the next generation of physician-scientists and leaders of academic medicine.

The University of Pennsylvania Health System includes three hospitals — its flagship hospital, the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, rated one of the nation’s “Honor Roll” hospitals by U.S.News & World Report; Pennsylvania Hospital, the nation's first hospital; and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center — a faculty practice plan; a primary-care provider network; two multispecialty satellite facilities; and home care and hospice.