{"333781":{"#nid":"333781","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Researchers Publish Findings of Significant Cardiovascular Study","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA group of Georgia Tech researchers has demonstrated for the first time that improving how efficiently they re-route blood in patients born with complex heart abnormalities also improves how well those patients can exercise. And that could reduce the long-term complications in a patient population that\u2019s getting older.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn the procedure, surgeons typically bypass one of heart\u2019s right ventricle, the lower chamber that pumps blood out to the lungs to be re-oxygenated. This is called a total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC), or Fontan procedure. The research shows improving the design of that connection has real benefits for patients.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis has been previously hypothesized with computer simulations, but until now had never been demonstrated with solid research,\u201d said Dr. Ajit Yoganathan, one of the paper\u2019s authors. \u201cThe results have real-world implications for patients who have had this heart procedure in the past. The more we can reduce their complications, the better off they\u2019ll be.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe study focused on 30 patients with only one functioning ventricle in their heart. The patients exercised by riding a bike for several minutes while their blood flow was measured with MRI. Researchers observed that patients with a more energy-efficient TCPC had a higher tolerance for exercise.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe findings were recently published in Heart, an international peer-reviewed journal for health professionals and researchers in all areas of cardiology. Yoganathan and eight other researchers from Georgia Tech\u2019s Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering contributed to the study.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThese findings are important for patients who have had a Fontan procedure because the TCPC design can be surgically modified,\u201d said Maria Restrepo, a Ph.D. candidate who co-authored the study. \u201cThis means we can take a proactive approach to reducing their complications, lessening the burden on the nation\u2019s healthcare system and improving their quality of life.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research was a collaboration between Georgia Tech and the Children\u2019s Hospital of Philadelphia with support from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo read the full findings in \u003Cem\u003EHeart\u003C\/em\u003E, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/heart.bmj.com\/content\/early\/2014\/09\/02\/heartjnl-2014-306337.short\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclick here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETo view a related video, \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.myfoxatlanta.com\/story\/26561057\/childrens-heart-surgeons-use-3-d-heart-mapping-to-plan-complicated-surgeries\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eclick here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWritten by Chris Calleri\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A group of Georgia Tech researchers has demonstrated a tangible connection between exercise performance and energy efficiency in a patient\u2019s total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC)."}],"uid":"27960","created_gmt":"2014-10-14 11:22:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:17:15","author":"Chris Calleri","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-10-14T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"333771":{"id":"333771","type":"image","title":"Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895044","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:44","alt":"Dr. Ajit P. Yoganathan","file":{"fid":"200436","name":"ajit-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ajit-2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ajit-2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":23084,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ajit-2_0.jpg?itok=rFvJgDoD"}},"333931":{"id":"333931","type":"image","title":"Ajit P. Yoganathan image 2","body":null,"created":"1449245133","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 16:05:33","changed":"1475895046","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:50:46","alt":"Ajit P. Yoganathan image 2","file":{"fid":"200438","name":"ajit-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ajit-1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/ajit-1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":19970,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/ajit-1_0.jpg?itok=65zYhqrl"}}},"media_ids":["333771","333931"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/groups.bme.gatech.edu\/groups\/cfmg\/group\/home.htm","title":"Yoganathan lab"}],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"42941","name":"Art Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"1612","name":"BME"},{"id":"365","name":"Research"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EChris Calleri\u003Cbr \/\u003E Communications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003E Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003E Georgia Institute of Technology \u0026amp; Emory School of Medicine\u003Cbr \/\u003E 313 Ferst Drive, Suite 2120\u003Cbr \/\u003E Atlanta, GA \u0026nbsp;30332-0535\u003Cbr \/\u003E Phone: \u0026nbsp;404.385.2416\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}