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Cardiac Electrophysiology Program
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The Cardiac Electrophysiology program is currently undergoing a major expansion of faculty, clinical services, research programs, and facilities. The current faculty includes Kathryn Collins, MD, Cathleen Kenny, RN, ANP, Michelle Khoo, MBBCh, Christopher Lowery MD, William Sauer, MD, and Michael Reiter, MD PhD. A major priority of the section remains the recruitment of new faculty to contribute to the expanding clinical services and research programs.
Dr. William Sauer serves as the director of the integrated electrophysiology program of the University of Colorado Denver affiliated clinics and hospitals. He has been the Director of the Electrophysiology Laboratories at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH) since 2006 and is also on staff at Denver Health Medical Center (DHMC). Dr. Sauer completed his clinical training in Cardiovascular Medicine and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Additional training in ablation techniques of complex arrhythmias was also completed at Penn. Dr. Sauer is trained in all aspects of clinical electrophysiology including cardiac resynchronization device implantation, and catheter ablation of supraventricular tachycardia, atrial fibrillation, and ventricular tachycardia.
Dr. Michelle Khoo completed her clinical and research training in Cardiovascular Medicine and Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology at Vanderbilt University and has additional training and experience in managing patients with severe congestive heart failure. Dr. Khoo is Director of Pacing and Defibrillation at the University of Colorado, which includes the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy clinic, the Cardiac Rhythm Management Device Clinic, and the Implanted Lead Extraction program.
Dr. Christopher Lowery serves as the Director of Electrophysiology at Denver Health Medical Center and is on staff at University of Colorado Hospital. Dr. Lowery completed his training in Cardiovascular Medicine and Cardiac Electrophysiology at the University of Colorado Denver. Dr. Lowery has gained additional experience in ablation of complex arrhythmias including those associated with structural heart disease.
Cathleen Kenny, RN, ANP is an Instructor in the Department of Medicine and has experience managing patients in all subspecialties of Cardiovascular Medicine. She directs the syncope clinic and performs tilt table testing in patients suspected of neurocardiogenic syncope. She is also an integral member of a team managing patients with complex arrhythmias treated with antiarrhythmic therapy and catheter ablation in the in-patient and out-patient settings.
Dr. Kathryn Collins is a pediatric cardiac electrophysiologist and specializes in the evaluation and management of arrhythmias in adults with congenital heart disease. She completed her training in Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology at the Children’s Hospital in Boston and at the University of California San Francisco. Prior to joining the faculty at UCD, Dr. Collins served as Director of the Pediatric Arrhythmia Center at UCSF.
Michael Reiter, MD, PhD, a long time faculty member, who now sees patients on a part-time basis, continues to contribute significantly to the Cardiac Electrophysiology section, as Professor Emeritus.
In addition to the electrophysiology faculty listed above, the section has relationships with other UCH and DHMC physicians, including cardiac surgeons, heart failure specialists, and medical geneticists, to offer the full complement of arrhythmia management services at UCD. These services include a broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, in-patient and out-patient consultations, and specialized clinics for patients with arrhythmias, defibrillators or pacemakers. The University electrophysiology group also maintains clinical and academic relationships with hospitals throughout the region to add to its clinical, educational, and research programs.
With the construction of the new Cardiac and Vascular Center at University of Colorado Hospital, there are two new EP suites including one fitted with biplane fluoroscopic imaging, intracardiac echocardiography, cryoablation, and 3D electroanatomical mapping to assist in the full complement of catheter ablation therapies. A separate single-plane fluoroscopy suite is used for electrophysiologic studies, implantation of cardiac rhythm management devices, and laser-assisted lead extraction. In addition, separate rooms are available for non-invasive procedures including tilt-table testing, non-invasive programmed stimulation, and electrical cardioversion. Similar state-of-the-art facilities have been constructed at Denver Health Medical Center as part of the integrated program.
An active electrophysiology research program is in place to evaluate new implantable devices for management of congestive heart failure and prevention of sudden cardiac death, as well as catheter ablation of arrhythmias. Recently, the publication of COMPANION trial has highlighted UCD as a center intimately involved in the arena of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Clinical trials evaluating techniques to increase the response rate to CRT are active and ongoing at UCD. In conjunction with investigators from National Jewish Health, the University’s research program in arrhythmias associated with cardiac sarcoid is internationally recognized as pioneering. Other research projects of the section include investigating strategies to prevent appropriate and inappropriate ICD therapy, improving catheter ablation techniques for treating complex arrhythmias, use of molecular markers and gene expression analysis for sudden death risk stratification, and expanding the diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of implantable cardiac devices.
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Kathryn K. Collins, MD
Cathleen Kenny, RN, ANP
Michelle S.C. Khoo, MD
Christoper M. Lowery, MD
Michael J. Reiter, MD, PhD
William H. Sauer, MD
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