Physician Investigator (NonCl) Cardiovascular Research Center, Mass General Research Institute

aortic valve; aortic valve stenosis; calcinosis; cardiovascular agents; heart valve prosthesis implantation; low cardiac output; mitral valve; mitral valve stenosis; myocardial reperfusion; oxygen consumption; systole

Dr. Elmariah's research focuses on the prediction and optimization of clinical outcomes of patients with aortic stenosis and after transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

Aortic valve stenosis is a disorder predominantly affecting the elderly and characterized by severe narrowing of the aortic valve, the doorway through which blood exits the heart. Aortic stenosis ultimately leads to heart failure and death. Surgical or transcatheter replacement of the valve cures the valve obstruction, but valve replacement is routinely reserved until compensatory mechanisms within the heart have failed. For many patients, this point is too late.

Despite valve replacement, damage to the heart muscle may be permanent, resulting in persistent symptoms and increased risk for death. Methods capable of identifying early stages of irreversible heart injury due to aortic valve stenosis are needed in order to help optimize the timing of surgery.

The long-term goal of Dr. Elmariah's work is to identify novel blood markers using novel proteomic and metabolomic profiling techniques that predict heart recovery after valve surgery.

Dr. Elmariah anticipates that such measures will help physicians optimize the timing of aortic valve replacement in order to maximize the likelihood that surgery will improve their patients’ symptoms and prolong their lives.

Additionally, the type of heart injury that occurs with aortic stenosis also occurs with high blood pressure, diabetes, and several other diseases. Findings from his research have the potential to improve the quality of care for many of these diseases as well.