Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s to Host 6^th Texas Update in Cardiovascular Advancements

HOUSTON (February 14, 2006) Cardiovascular disease remains the leading killer in the U.S., claiming 2,500 lives each day and more than a million each year. One in three Americans has some form of heart disease. Over the past decade, physicians and scientists have worked feverishly to find ways to combat the various physiological risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital will conduct the “6^th Texas Update in Cardiovascular Advancements” on March 31 and April 1 to address the ongoing challenges in the fight against heart disease.

This two-day symposium will feature lectures and panel discussions by a distinguished faculty, providing up-to-date information on the current status and future direction of cardiovascular medicine and surgery. Faculty will highlight recent progress in the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular disease as well as assess new therapeutic modalities.

Notable faculty who are presenting include Peter Libby, M.D., Chief of Cardiovascular Medicine and the Mallinckrodt Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital. Dr. Libby will address “Inflammation and Cardiovascular Disease.” Robert Roberts, M.D., President & CEO of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, will address “Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy and its Treatment.” The program director for this symposium is Dr. James Willerson, president-elect and medical director of the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s and president of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The audience for this continuing medical education activity includes cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons and clinical researchers.

Specifically, the symposium will enable participants to:

• Discuss recent scientific advances in lipid management and the use of statins for acute and chronic coronary artery disease
• Review newer pharmacologic platforms for ST elevation myocardial infarction (MI)
• Describe advances in the medical and interventional treatment of unstable angina and non-Q wave MI
• Determine the appropriate use of CT and MRI/MRA for diagnosing cardiovascular disease
• Summarize recent findings of clinical trials and their indications for current and future medical therapy for heart failure
• Discuss latest findings related to pathogenesis of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and its treatment
• Understand new surgical options with robotic surgery, and its role in modern-day surgical practice
• Assess the latest surgical devices available to treat acute, decompensated heart failure patients
• Recognize the potential therapeutic options with stem cell therapy for cardiovascular disease including congestive heart failure
• Highlight new advances in electrophysiology, including biventricular pacing, defibrillation and ablation
• Explain the role of inflammation and inflammatory markers in the current view of atherosclerotic disease
• Discuss how genes are being used to identify patients at risk for premature MIs. Address ways nanotechnology can be used in the future to enhance diagnostic imaging
• Review the mechanisms of stem cell transformation into cardiac cells and issues related to stem cell transplant for myocardial regeneration.

This symposium will be held at the Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital – The Denton A. Cooley Building. The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. The Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s designates this educational activity for 11 credit hours in Category 1 of the Physician’s Recognition Award of the American Medical Association. Medical professionals may register by calling 832-355-2157 or register online at http://cme.texasheart.org.

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World-renowned cardiovascular surgeon Denton A. Cooley, MD, founded the Texas Heart Institute in 1962 for the study and treatment of diseases of the heart and blood vessels. Together with the Institute’s clinical partner, St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital, for the past 15 years it has been ranked among the nation’s top ten heart centers in an annual survey published by U.S.News & World Report.

St. Luke's was founded in 1954 by the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. St. Luke's is home to the world-renowned Texas Heart Institute, founded in 1962. In 2001, St. Luke's earned the Magnet designation, the highest honor in patient care. It is the first hospital in Texas and the Southwest to be so honored. For more information about the hospital, please visit www.stlukestexas.com