Among the Nation's Top Programs for Children With Heart Disease

Doctor holds model of infant heart during discussion with peers.

Department of Pediatrics Annual Report – 2022

Cardiology

Department of Pediatric Annual Report 2022 Banner
Christopher Petit, MD

Members of the Division of Cardiology, founded in 1956 by Dr. Sylvia Griffiths:

  • Provide the latest and most effective diagnostic and therapeutic interventions and surgeries that will achieve the best outcomes
  • Conduct innovative basic science, translational, and clinical research
  • Educate the next generation of pediatric cardiologists in every aspect of pediatric cardiology

Our ultimate goal is to cure heart disease one gene, one cell, one heart at a time through clinical, scientific, and academic excellence.

As part of NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, we are among the top pediatric cardiology programs in the U.S.

We were one of the first pediatric heart transplant programs in the world and are one of the largest programs in the country, offering advanced cardiac therapies for the most challenging infants and children.

Our Team

Our team of 45 faculty members provide clinical excellence through nationally recognized clinical and research programs, including:

Our program has achieved many measures of distinction. We:

  • Are leaders in the care of babies born with a single ventricle through our Center for Single Ventricle Care
  • Are pioneers in the initial and ongoing development of transcatheter valve placement for congenital heart disease 
  • Have established one of the nation’s first pediatric pulmonary hypertension programs and are currently one of a small number of certified Centers of Excellence in pulmonary hypertension
  • Have established one of the nation’s largest pulmonary vein stenosis programs offering novel medical, transcatheter, and surgical therapies to improve survival and quality of life 
  • Have expanded the use of 3D pre-procedure planning models, including ventricular assist device placement planning, to guide surgeries and transcatheter interventions in children born with complex heart lesions
  • Are leaders in treating low-birthweight infants who require early surgical or transcatheter interventions
  • Have expertise performing the hybrid approach for hypoplastic left heart syndrome and are one of a few centers in the U.S. to establish a formal pediatric hybrid program
  • Implanted the first Berlin heart as a bridge to transplant in the youngest patient ever to receive one—an infant only three days old
  • Are one of only a few institutions in the world to perform comprehensive multidisciplinary heart valve repair and replacement
  • Established the only cardiac intensive care unit in the nation exclusively dedicated to the care of newborn infants with congenital heart disease
  • Have demonstrated that whole-exome sequencing can serve as a valuable addition to standard prenatal genetic tests, with the potential to improve perinatal care for infants with genetic conditions

The Division of Pediatric Cardiology is committed to expanding scientific discovery in the fields of pediatric cardiology and cardiovascular surgery. To achieve this, several faculty members and staff are currently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including two R01 awards and a K award, and by other large foundations through independent, collaborative, and mentored research awards.

Education

Our Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship is one of the most highly sought-after programs in the country. Our three-year bicampus program involves New York-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, on the Columbia University Irving Medical Center campus, and Komansky Children’s Hospital, on the Weill Cornell Medicine campus. Trainees also have the option of an advanced fourth-year fellowship in a subspecialty area such as noninvasive cardiac imaging, interventional cardiology, heart failure/transplantation, cardiac intensive care, adult congenital heart disease, and pulmonary hypertension.

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Honors and Awards

Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital has been named a Comprehensive Center of Excellence (COE) for lymphatic disease by the Lymphatic Education & Research Network (LE&RN), the first LE&RN Comprehensive COE in New York City. LE&RN is a national organization that supports education, research, and advocacy for patients affected by congenital or acquired lymphatic disorders.

Brett Anderson, MD, MBA, MS

  • Named Irving Scholar: Columbia University Irving Medical Center
  • Named Professorship From the University’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research, in Honor of Outstanding Scholarship

Priyanka Asrani, MD 

  • 2022 Alan J Hordoff Fellow Teaching Award

Erika Berman Rosenzweig, MD 

  • Elected to the American Pediatric Society
  • Received UT Genesis Trailblazer Award

Kanwal Farooqi, MD

  • Held the Inaugural Pediatric Cardiac Research Initiative in Imaging to Support Mentoring (PRIISM) Symposium, as Part of Cardiology 2022-Annual Update on Pediatric and Congenital Cardiovascular Disease Meeting

Anne Ferris, MD

  • Inducted Into the 2022 Class of the Academy of Clinical Excellence (ACE) at Columbia University

Michael Fremed, MD 

  • Appointed Co-Chair of Global Coalition for Fitness and Congenital Heart Disease, Technology Working Group
  • Co-Chair/Co-Founder of Newly Formed AAP-Section on Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Webinar Committee

Julie Glickstein, MD

  • 2022 Martha Hooven Award for Excellence in the Community
  • Appointed to American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Workforce National Working Group and Selected by the ABP to Construct a Pediatric Subspecialty Supply Model Entitled “Estimating the Future Supply of Pediatric Subspecialists in the United States and United States Regions From 2020-2040"
  • Appointed to ACGME Pediatric Cardiology Milestone Group
  • Appointed Co-Chair American Academy of Pediatrics SOCCS Publications and Communications Workgroup

  • Committee Chair, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions Fellow’s Course 2021-2023

Aimee Layton, PhD 

  • Appointed Co-Chair of Global Coalition for Fitness and Congenital Heart Disease, Technology Working Group

Irene Lytrivi, MD 

  • PHTS 2021 Fall Proposal Cycle/Enduring Hearts Award

Benjamin S. Mantell, MD, PhD

  • Colin Molloy Research Award, Colin’s Kids, Inc.

Christopher J. Petit, MD

  • President, Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative (CCRC)
  • Study Chair, COmparison of Methods for Pulmonary Blood Flow Augmentation in Neonates: Shunt Versus Stent (COMPASS).  NIH-Funded Multicenter Trial
  • Discussed “Systemic Sirolimus for Children with Pulmonary Vein Stenosis" on “Pedi-Heart” Podcast

Kimara Targoff, MD

  • Angelika Aleman, a Graduate Student in the Targoff Lab, Was Awarded an NHLBI F31HL164101 Grant Entitled “CRIP2 Is a Potential Novel Regulator of the Hemogenic Endothelium and HSC Emergence."

Rachel Weller, MD

  • Inducted Into the 2022 Class of the Academy of Clinical Excellence (ACE) at Columbia University

Major Grants

  • Cerebral autoregulation and neurodevelopmental outcomes in neonates with single ventricle congenital heart disease. Children’s Heart Foundation. Principal Investigator: Nimrod Goldshtrom, MD; Co-Investigator: Brett Anderson, MD.
  • NIH Recover: A multi-site observational study of post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pediatric populations. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. OT2HL161847. Site Multi-Principal Investigators: Melissa Stockwell, MD, MPH; Erika Berman Rosenzweig, MD; Joshua Milner, MD.
  • ASPIRE! peer mentoring. NIH, National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. 5UL1 TR001873-06. Principal Investigator: Muredach Reilly, MD; Co-Investigator: Brett Anderson, MD.
  • Linking state Medicaid and congenital heart surgical registry data: Building capacity to assess disparities in longitudinal outcomes and value for children with congenital heart disease. NIH, National Health, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigator: Brett Anderson, MD.
  • Pediatric Heart Network. NIH, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigator: Miller; Site Co-Principal Investigator: Brett Anderson, MD.
  • NIH Recover. Innovation Nucleation Fund, Department of Pediatrics, CUIMC. Principal Investigator: Michael Fremed, MD; Co-Principal Investigator: Aimee Layton, PhD.
  • Comparison of methods for pulmonary blood flow augmentation in neonates: Shunt versus stent. Pediatric Heart Network, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. National Study Chair: Chris Petit, MD.  

Selected Publications

Chen JK, Salerno DM, Corbo H, Mantell BS, Richmond M, Rothkopf A, Lytrivi ID. Immune cell function assay and T lymphocyte counts lack association with rejection or infection in pediatric heart transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2022 Nov:e14858. Online ahead of print.

Kohli U, Desai L, Chowdhury D, Harahsheh AS, Yonts AB, Ansong A, Sabati A, Nguyen HH, Hussain T, Khan D, Parra DA, Su JA, Patel JK, Ronai C, Bohun M, Freij BJ, O'Connor MJ, Rosanno JW, Gupta A, Salavitabar A, Dorfman AL, Hansen J, Frosch O, Profita EL, Maskatia S, Thacker D, Shrivastava S, Harris T, Feingold B, Berger S, Campbell M, Idriss SF, Das S, Renno MS, Knecht K, Asaki SY, Patel S, Ashwath R, Shih R, Phillips J, Das B, Ramachandran P, Sagiv E, Bhat AH, Johnson JN, Taggart N, Imundo J, Nakra N, Behere S, Patel A, Agarwal A, Aljemmali S, Lang S, Batlivala S, Forsha DE, Conners GP, Shaw J, Smith FC, Pauliks L, Vettukattil J, Shaffer K, Cheang S, Voleti S, Shenoy R, Komarlu R, Ryan SJ, Snyder C, Bansal N, Sharma M, Robinson J, Arnold SR, Salvatore CM, Kumar M, Fremed M, Glickstein JS, Perrotta M, Orr W, Rozema T, Thirumoorthi M, Mullett CJ, Ang JY. mRNA COVID-19 vaccine-associated myopericarditis in adolescents: A survey study. J Pediatr. 2022 April; 243:208–213. PMID 34952008.

Mantell BS, Azeka E, Cantor RS, Carlo WF, Chrisant M, Dykes JC, Hoffman TM, Kirklin JK, Koehl D, L’Ecuyer TJ, McAllister JM, Prada-Ruiz AC, Richmond ME. The Fontan immunophenotype and post-transplant outcomes in children: A multi-Institutional study. Pediatr Transplant. 2023 Jan:e14456. doi: 10.1111/petr.14456.

Girvin ZP, Silver ES, Liberman L. Comparison of AliveCor KardiaMobile six-lead ECG with standard ECG in pediatric patients. Pediatr Cardiol. 2022 Sep. doi: 10.1007/s00246-022-02998-7. Online ahead of print.

Choi T, Silver ES, Liberman L. Supraventricular tachycardia without preexcitation as a cause of sudden cardiac arrest in pediatric patients. Pediatr Cardiol. 2022;43(1):218–224.

Stanford NT, McAllister J, Gibbons M, Jensen K, Lee H, Rothkopf A, Jackson R, Farr M, Addonizio L, Law S, Lee T, Richmond MR, Zuckerman W. Quality of life and lifetime achievement in adult survivors of pediatric heart transplant. Pediatr Transplant. 2022;26(7):e14370. doi: 10.1111/petr.14370. Epub 2022 Aug 11.

De Sena-Tomás C, Aleman A, Ford, C, Varshney A, Yao D, Harrington J, Saúde L, Ramialison M, Targoff KL. Activation of Nkx2.5 transcriptional program is required for adult myocardial repair.  Nat Commun. 2022;13(1): 2970. PMID: 35624100.

Barry OM, Bouhout I, Turner ME, Petit CJ, Kalfa D. Transcatheter cardiac interventions in the newborn: JACC review topic of the week. J Am Coll Cardiol. 20227;79(22):2270–2283. 

Turner ME, Bouhout I, Petit CJ, Kalfa D. Transcatheter closure of atrial and ventricular septal defects: JACC focus seminar. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79(22):2247–2258. 

DiLorenzo MP, Farooqi KM, Shah AM, Channing A, Harrington JK, Connors TJ, Martirosyan K, Krishnan US, Ferris A, Weller RJ, Farber DL, Milner JD, Gorelik M, Rosenzweig EB, Anderson BR, Columbia University Interdisciplinary Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children Follow-up Program and the Columbia University Irving Medical Center Pediatric/Adult Congenital Heart Research Collaborative. Ventricular function and tissue characterization by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging following hospitalization for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: a prospective study. Pediatr Radiol. 2022 Oct:1–10. doi: 10.1007/s00247-022-05521-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36255453; PMCID: PMC9579624.

Farooqi KM, Smerling J, Jorde UP. Application of 3D printing technology in heart failure. Heart Fail Clin. 2022;18(2):325–333. doi: 10.1016/j.hfc.2021.11.002. PMID: 35341544.

Asrani PP, Gellis LA, Schidlow D, Callahan R, Porras D, Wilkins-Haug L, Guseh S, Tworetzky W, Friedman KG. Technically successful fetal aortic valvuloplasty acutely improves left heart output. Prenat Diagn. 2022;42(11):1466–1470. doi: 10.1002/pd.6240. PMID: 36101482.

Donovan DJ, Richmond ME, Bacha EA, Addonizio LJ, Zuckerman WA. Association between homograft tissue exposure and allosensitization prior to heart transplant in patients with congenital heart disease. Pediatr Transplant. 2022;26(3):e14201. doi: 10.1111/petr.14201. Epub 2021 Dec 10.PMID: 34889487.

Richmond ME, Deshpande SR, Zangwill SD, Bichell DP, Kindel SJ, Mahle WT, Schroder JN, Wigger MA, Knecht KR, Pahl E, Gaglianello NA, Goetsch MA, Simpson P, Dasgupta M, Zhang L, North PE, Tomita-Mitchell A, Mitchell ME. Validation of donor fraction cell-free DNA with biopsy-proven cardiac allograft rejection in children and adults. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2023;165(2):460–468.e2 30. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcvs.2022.04.027. PMID: 35643770; PMCID: PMC9617812.

Zangwill SD, Deshpande SR, Simpson PM, Liang HL, Zhang L, Dasgupta M, Richmond ME, Kindel SJ, Bichell DP, Mahle WT, Wigger MA, Schroder JN, Knecht KR, Pahl E, Gaglianello NA, North PE, Tomita-Mitchell A, Mitchell ME. Increase in nuclear cell-free DNA is associated with major adverse events in adult and pediatric heart transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2022;36(1):e14509. doi: 10.1111/ctr.14509. Epub 2021 Nov 24. PMID: 34649304.

Barry OM, Bouhout I, Kodali SK, George I, Rosenbaum MS, Petit CJ, Kalfa D. Interventions for congenital atrioventricular valve dysfunction: JACC Focus Seminar. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79(22):2259–2269. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2021.08.083. PMID: 35654497.

Barry OM, Bouhout I, Turner ME, Petit CJ, Kalfa DM. Transcatheter cardiac interventions in the newborn: JACC Focus Seminar. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2022;79(22):2270–2283. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2022.03.374. PMID: 35654498.

Quinn B, Barry OM, Batlivala SP, Boe BA, Glatz AC, Gauvreau K, Goldstein BH, Gudausky TM, Hainstock MR, Holzer RJ, Nicholson GT, Trucco SM, Whiteside W, Yeh M, Bergersen L, O'Byrne ML. Changes in practice/outcomes of pediatric/congenital catheterization in response to the first wave of COVID. JACC Adv. 2022;1(5):100143. doi: 10.1016/j.jacadv.2022.100143. Epub 2022 Nov 30. PMID: 36471862; PMCID: PMC9710529.

Chang KY, Duval S, Badesch DB, Bull TM, Chakinala MM, De Marco T, Frantz RP, Hemnes A, Mathai SC, Rosenzweig EB, Ryan JJ, Thenappan T,  PHAR Investigators. Mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension in the modern era: Early insights from the pulmonary hypertension association registry. J Am Heart Assoc. 2022;11(9):e024969. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.121.024969. Epub 2022 Apr 27. PMID: 35475351.

Di Maria MV, Goldberg DJ, Zak V, Hu C, Lubert AM, Dragulescu A, Mackie AS, McCrary A, Weingarten A, Parthiban A, Goot B, Goldstein BH, Taylor C, Lindblade C, Petit CJ, Spurney C, Harrild DM, Urbina EM, Schuchardt E, Beom Kim G, Kyoung Yoon J, Colombo JN, Files MD, Schoessling M, Ermis P, Wong PC, Garg R, Swanson SK, Menon SC, Srivastava S, Thorsson T, Johnson TR, Krishnan US, Paridon SM, Frommelt PC, Pediatric Heart Network. Impact of Udenafil on echocardiographic indices of single ventricle size and function in FUEL study participants. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2022;15(11):e013676.

Nicholson GT, Goldstein BH, Petit CJ, Qureshi AM, Glatz AC, McCracken CE, Kelleman MS, Meadows JJ, Zampi JD, Shahanavaz S, Mascio CE, Chai PJ, Romano JC, Healan SJ, Pettus JA, Batlivala SP, Raulston JEB, Hock KM, Maskatia SA, Beshish A, Law MA, Congenital Cardiac Research Collaborative Investigators. Impact of management strategy on feeding and somatic growth in neonates with symptomatic tetralogy of Fallot: Results from the congenital cardiac research collaborative. J Pediatr. 2022 Nov;250:22–28.e4.

Patel JD, Mandhani M, Gray R, Pettus J, McCracken CE, Thomas A, Bauser-Heaton H, Kim DW, Petit CJ. Transcatheter recanalization of atretic pulmonary veins in infants and children. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2022;15(6).

Dilorenzo MP, Farooqi KM, Shah AM, Channing A, Harrington JK, Connors TJ, Martirosyan K, Krishnan US, Ferris A, Weller RJ, Farber DL, Milner JD, Gorelik M, Rosenzweig EB, Anderson BR. Ventricular function and tissue characterization by cardiac MRI in children following hospitalization for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C): A prospective study. Res Sq. 2022 Jan:rs.3.rs-1254952. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1254952/v1. Preprint. PMID: 35118462.

Rosenzweig EB, Bates A, Mullen MP, Abman SH, Austin ED, Everett A, Fineman J, Feinstein J, Hopper RK, Kinsella JP, Krishnan US, Lu M, Mandl KD, Raj JU, Varghese N, Yung D, Handler SS, Sleeper LA. Cardiac catheterization and hemodynamics in a multicenter cohort of children with pulmonary hypertension. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2022;19(6):1000–1012. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202108-998OC. PMID: 35049414.

Issapour A, Frank B, Crook S, Hite MD, Dorn ML, Rosenzweig EB, Ivy DD, Krishnan US. Safety and tolerability of combination therapy with ambrisentan and tadalafil for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension in children: Real-world experience. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2022;57(3):724–733. doi: 10.1002/ppul.25796. Epub 2022 Jan 3. PMID: 34921523.

Farooqi KM, Chan A, Weller RJ, Mi J, Jiang P, Abrahams E, Ferris A, Krishnan US, Pasumarti N, Suh S, Shah AM, DiLorenzo MP, Zachariah P, Milner JD, Rosenzweig EB, Gorelik M, Anderson B,; Columbia University Interdisciplinary MIS-C Follow-up Program and the CUIMC Pediatric/Adult Congenital Heart Research Collaborative. Longitudinal outcomes for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Pediatrics. 2021;148(2):e2021051155. doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-051155. Epub 2021 Jul 15. PMID: 34266903.

Kohli U, Desai L, Chowdhury D, Harahsheh AS, Yonts AB, Ansong A, Sabati A, Nguyen HH, Hussain T, Khan D, Parra DA, Su JA, Patel JK, Ronai C, Bohun M, Freij BJ, O'Connor MJ, Rosanno JW, Gupta A, Salavitabar A, Dorfman AL, Hansen J, Frosch O, Profita EL, Maskatia S, Thacker D, Shrivastava S, Harris TH, Feingold B, Berger S, Campbell M, Idriss SF, Das S, Renno MS, Knecht K, Asaki SY, Patel S, Ashwath R, Shih R, Phillips J, Das B, Ramachandran P, Sagiv E, Bhat AH, Johnson JN, Taggart NW, Imundo J, Nakra N, Behere S, Patel A, Aggarwal A, Aljemmali S, Lang S, Batlivala SP, Forsha DE, Conners GP, Shaw J, Smith FC, Pauliks L, Vettukattil J, Shaffer K, Cheang S, Voleti S, Shenoy R, Komarlu R, Ryan SJ, Snyder C, Bansal N, Sharma M, Robinson JA, Arnold SR, Salvatore CM, Kumar M, Fremed MA, Glickstein JS, Perrotta M, Orr W, Rozema T, Thirumoorthi M, Mullett CJ, Ang JY. mRNA coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine-associated myopericarditis in adolescents: A survey study. J Pediatr. 2022 Apr;243:208–213.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2021.12.025. Epub 2021 Dec 22. PMID: 34952008; PMCID: PMC8691954.

Fremed MA, Farooqi KM. Longitudinal outcomes and monitoring of patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Front Pediatr. 2022 Apr;10:820229. doi: 10.3389/fped.2022.820229. PMID: 35433557; PMCID: PMC9010503.

Highlights

#5 Best Children’s Hospital for Cardiology and Heart Surgery 

U.S. News & World Report ranked our heart center #5 nationally among best children’s hospitals for cardiology and heart surgery, the highest ranking achieved by our program. 

U.S. News & World Report

Fixing a Little Boy’s ‘Swiss Cheese’ Heart

Born with more than a dozen holes in his heart, Maverick Waler was on the path toward transplant, until he traveled across the country to Columbia University Irving Medical Center/NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital, where our pediatric cardiologists and surgeons saved his heart and gave him the chance for a normal life.

Learn More About Maverick

NFL Raises Voice of Columbia Heart Transplant Patient

New York Giants fan Sam Prince was born with a severe heart defect and required two surgeries before he turned one; then he received a heart transplant at Columbia at age 8. Since then, Sam has been working to increase the number of people who register to donate organs. In a December 2022 NFL360 video, "Life of Sam," he talks about his mission to raise awareness of organ donation.

CUIMC Newsroom