The Smidt Heart Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center celebrated many milestones in 2019 involving new leadership, innovative surgical procedures and groundbreaking research. Dr. Eduardo Marbán, executive director of the institute, credited the staff and physicians for making the year a success.

“It’s our people, the pioneers in the field, who come to work every day to transform patients’ lives and advance scientific breakthroughs,” Marbán said. “And, it’s also the result of our incredible patients who trust our experts with their lives.”

Cedars-Sinai recently announced the appointments of new leaders to head two newly established departments in the Smidt Heart Institute. Heart surgeon Dr. Joanna Chikwe was named founding chair of the Department of Cardiac Surgery and Dr. Christine Albert was named founding chair of the Department of Cardiology.

The Smidt Heart Institute was also at the forefront of studying the adverse effects of vaping and presented research at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions indicating that electronic nicotine delivery systems, including e-cigarettes, may be even more harmful to the heart than cigarettes. The study’s senior author, Dr. Florian Rader, said unknown chemicals in vaping devices form vapors that are likely causing the most harm.

Additionally, Cedars-Sinai’s Barbershop Study was honored by the Clinical Research Forum, which recognized the Smidt Heart Institute with the Herbert Pardes Clinical Research Excellence Award, its most prestigious award. The Barbershop Study was used to develop a blood pressure control program for black men in the comfortable and convenient environments of their barbershops. In six months, the study – led by the late hypertension expert Dr. Ronald G. Victor – improved the outcomes and control of high blood pressure in more than 60% of participants. The 12-month data published recently in the journal Circulation backed up the results, proving that a pharmacist-led, barbershop-based medical intervention can successfully lower blood pressure in men who face a higher risk of disability and premature death.

Research led by Dr. Raj Makkar showed for the first time that patients with a common heart defect who undergo catheter-based valve replacement procedures have the same survival and complication rates as patients without the defect who undergo the same procedure. Shortly after Makkar’s study was published, the Food and Drug Administration approved a minimally invasive heart valve procedure for an expanded group of patients with aortic stenosis.

The Smidt Heart Institute was also credited for a pioneering procedure for patients with cardiac birth defects. Maxwell and Mason Bradford were born at 27-weeks’ gestation, each weighing 2 pounds, 10 ounces. Like many extremely premature babies, the babies were born with patent ductus arteriosus, a heart-related birth defect commonly referred to as a “hole in the heart.” At two weeks old, they underwent a minimally invasive procedure developed by Dr. Evan Zahn, director of the Guerin Family Congenital Heart Program. Shortly after the twins were treated, the Food and Drug Administration approved the transcatheter procedure for wider use.

Advances in women’s heart disease were also noted as Dr. Noel Bairey Merz, director of the Barbra Streisand Women’s Heart Center, joined Streisand to warn about the heart disease symptoms that are more common in women than men. The duo shared their perspectives with the Journal of the American Medical Association, which published an article about how physicians should evaluate female patients who have chest pain and included the information in the “JAMA Author Interviews” podcast. For information, visit cedars-sinai.org.