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Mission Statement

The Department of CV Anesthesiology is pursuing research designed to improve anesthesia and surgical care in patients with cardiovascular disease by exploring new methods to decrease mortality, morbidity, length of stay, and discomfort. Areas of interest include:

• Organ protection during cardiovascular surgery.
• The influence of genotype on perioperative risk and outcome.
• Gender-related outcomes after cardiovascular surgery.
• Methods to test coagulation and minimize blood loss following cardiovascular surgery.
• Influence of statins on perioperative outcomes.
• Novel drugs for the treatment of pain after cardiovascular surgery.
• Physiology of heart failure.
• Anesthetic management of patients with severe heart failure, particularly those requiring implantation of ventricular assist devices such as the Jarvik^TM LVAD, the Abiocor^TM Total Artificial Heart, and other experimental devices.

Department Staff

C. David Collard, MD
Director, Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Research

Attending Physicians and CV Anesthesia Fellows

Research Nurses and Other Personnel

Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Department Homepage

Recent Staff Publications

Collard CD, Shernan SK, Fox AA, GieseckeNM, Body SC. The practicality and need for genetic testing for malignant hyperthermia.  Anesthesiology 2005;103:1101

Palmer SN, Giesecke NM, Body SC, Shernan SK, Fox AA, Collard CD. Pharmacogenetics of anesthetic agents. Anesthesiology 2005;102:663-671.

BodySC, Collard CD. Competing Risks: Preoperative myocardial infarction or postoperative bleeding? J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2005;19:1-3.

Fox AA, Shernan SK, Body SC, Collard CD. Genetic influences on cardiac surgical outcomes. J. Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2005;19:379-391.

Bick RJ, Grigore AM, Poindexter BJ, Schnee PM, Nussmeier NA, Gregoric ID, Shah NA, Myers TJ, Buja LM, Frazier OH. Left ventricular unloading with an assist device results in receptor relocalization as well as increased beta-adrenergic receptor numbers: are these changes indications for outcome? J Card Surg. 2005 Jul-Aug;20(4):332-6.

Grigore A, Poindexter B, Vaughn WK, Nussmeier N, Frazier OH, Cooper JR, Gregoric ID, Maximilian Buja L, Bick RJ. Alterations in alpha adrenoreceptor density and localization after mechanical left ventricular unloading with the Jarvik flowmaker left ventricular assist device.
J Heart Lung Transplant. 2005 May;24(5):609-13.

Grigore AM, Joe RR, Savage R. Intraoperative Echocardiographic Assessment of Patients Undergoing Procedures for Congestive Heart Failure. Comprehensive Review of Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography. R. Savage, S. Aronson, J. Shanewise, WJ Stewart, J. Thomas.  Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore MD; 2005.

Bick RJ, Bagwell SH, Jones CE, Poindexter BJ, Buja LM, Youker KA, Grigore A, Clubb F, Radovancevic B, Frazier OH. Fluorescence imaging microscopy of cellular markers in ischemic vs non-ischemic cardiomyopathy after left ventricular unloading. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2005 Apr;24(4):454-61.

Joe RR, Stone ME, Collard CD. Perioperative evaluation of mechanical assist devices.  In: Reeves S and Shanewise J, editors. Fundamental Applications of Transesophageal Echocardiography [DVD]. New York: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2005.

Fox AA, Shernan SK, Body SC, Collard CD. Genetic influences on surgical outcomes. Medicine 2005;86-91.

Giesecke, M: The 79th Legislature. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists’ Bulletin 2005;17:1:3-5.

Palmer SN, Giesecke NM, Body SC, et. al. Pharmacogenetics of anesthetic and analgesic agents. Anesthesiology March 2005;102(3):663-671. 

Giesecke, M: A Tale of Two Cities. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists’ Bulletin 2005;17:2:5-7.

Hindler K, Cleeland CS, Rivera E, Collard CD. Role of statins in cancer therapy. Oncologist 2006;11:306-315.

Vrtovec B, Yazdanbakhsh AP, Pintar T, Collard CD, Gregoric I, Radovancevic B. QTc interval prolongation predicts post-operative mortality in heart failure patients undergoing surgical revascularization. Texas Heart Institute J.  2006;33:3-8.

Pan W, Hindler K, Lee V, Vaughn WK, Collard CD. Obesity in diabetic patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery is associated with increased postoperative morbidity.  Anesthesiology 2006;104:441-447.

Hindler K, Eltzschig H, Collard CD. Influence of statins on perioperative outcomes. J.  Cardiothorac. Vasc. Anesth. 2006;20:251-258.

Collard CD, Body SC, Shernan SK, Wang S, Mangano DT for the Multicenter Study of Perioperative Ischemia Research Group (McSPI); Ischemia Research and Education Foundation (IREF) Investigators. Preoperative statin therapy is associated with reduced cardiac mortality following coronary artery bypass graft surgery. J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2006;132(2):392-400.

Hindler K, Shaw AD, Samuels J, Fulton S, Collard CD, Riedel B. Reduction in postoperative morbidity and mortality by preoperative statin therapy: A systematic literature review and meta-Analysis. Anesthesiology 2006;Dec;105(6):1260-1272.

Bracey AW, Grigore AM, Nussmeier NA. Impact of Platelet Testing on Presurgical Screening and Implications for Cardiac and Noncardiac Surgical Procedures. Am J Cardiol. 2006 Nov 20;98(10S1):S25-S32

Sethi M, Grigore AM, Davison JK. Pro: It is safe to proceed with thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysm surgery after encountering a bloody tap during cerebrospinal fluid catheter placement. J Cardiothorac Vasc Anesth. 2006;Apr;20(2):269-72.

Cooper JR Jr, Abrams J, Frazier OH, Radovancevic R, Radovancevic B, Bracey AW, Kindo MJ, Gregoric ID. Fatal pulmonary microthrombi during surgical therapy for end-stage heart failure: possible association with antifibrinolytic therapy. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2006 May;131(5):963-8.

Giesecke, M: Change. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists’ Bulletin 2006;18:1:6–8.

Giesecke, M: Medical Errors. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists’ Bulletin 2006;18:2:7-9.

Blanchard L, Collard CD.  Non-antiarrhythmic agents for prevention of postoperative atrial fibrillation: Role of statins. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2007 Feb;20(1):53-56.

Cooper JR, GieseckeNM. Anesthesia for Cardiovascular Operations in "Cardiovascular Medicine", Third Edition. Willerson JT, Cohn JN, Editors, Springer; 2007.

Cooper JR: Anesthetic Management. In: “Aortic Arch Surgery: Principles, Strategies and Outcomes” Coselli JS, LeMaire SA, Editors, Blackwell Publishing; 2007.

Cooper JR, GieseckeNM: Hemodilution and Priming Solutions. In: “Cardiopulmonary Bypass, Principles and Practices,” Third Edition, Gravlee GP, Davis R, Stammers A, Ungerlaider R, Editors. New York: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2007. 

Lotlikar P, Cooper JR: Mechanical Problems during Cardiopulmonary Bypass. In: “Complications in Anesthesia”, Second Edition. Atlee JL, Editor, Saunders/Elsevier, Philadelphia; 2007.

Fox A, Cooper JR: Anesthetic Management for Thoracic Aneurysms and Dissections in “A Practical Approach to Cardiac Anesthesia,” Fourth Edition. Hensley F, Martin DE, Gravlee GP, Editors. New York: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2007. 

Sethi M, Collard CD. Thoracic aortic surgery. In: Yao FS, editor. "Yao and Artusio's Anesthesiology: Problem-oriented patient management". 6^th ed. New York: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2007.

Thomas Z, Collard CD. Cardiac transplantation. In: Hensley FA, Martin DE, editors. "A practical approach to cardiac anesthesia". 4^th ed. Boston: Little, Brown & Company; 2007.

Collard CD.  Perioperative Care in Cardiac Anesthesia and Surgery. Cheng DCH, Tirone DE, editors. New York: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins; 2006 [Book review]. Anesthesiology 2007.

Collard CD. “A razor may be sharper than an ax, but it cannot cut wood” -Annang Proverb [Editorial]. Anesthesiology 2007.

Bennet-Guerrero E, Grocott HP, Levy JH, Stierer KA, Hogue CW, Cheung, AT, Newman MF, Carter AA, Rossignol DP, Collard CD. A phase II double-blind placebo-controlled ascending dose study of eritoran (e5564), a lipid a antagonist, in patients undergoing cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass. Anesthesia & Analgesia 2007.

Giesecke, M: Expecting the Unexpected. Texas Society of Anesthesiologists’ Bulletin  2007;19:1:8-10. 

Sethi M, Collard CD.  Perioperative Statin Therapy:  Are Formal Guidelines and Physician Education Needed? Anesth Analg. 2007; 104(6):1322-1324.

Walsh MC, Shaffer LA, Body SC, Shernan S, Fox AA, Collard CD, Taylor RP, Stahl GL.  Fluorochrome linked immunoassay for a complete functional analysis of the mannose binding lectin complement pathway. J Immunol Method 2007; 323:147-159.

Collard CD, Shernan SK, Fox AA, Vaughn WK, Toralf B, Chanock SJ, Takahashi K, Ezekowitz AB, Body SC. The MBL2 "LYQA Secretor" haplotype is an independent predictor of postoperative myocardial infarction in whites undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery.  Circulation 2007; 116:I106-I122.

Collard CD, Anton JM, Cooper JR Jr, Giesecke M. Contributions of Anesthesiology to the Surgical Treatment of Cerebrovascular Disease: The Role of Arthur S. Keats, MD.  Anesthesiology 2008; In press.

Fox AA, Shernan SK, Collard CD, Jarolim P, Body SC.  Preoperative brain natriuretic peptide independently predicts post-coronary artery bypass graft surgery ventricular dysfunction.  J. Thorac. Cardiovasc. Surg.  2008; In press.

Le Manach Y, Coriat P, Collard CD, Riedel B.  Statin therapy within the perioperative period.  Anesthesiology 2008; In press.

Tung S, Collard CD, Pan W. Metabolic syndrome increases operative mortality in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery. Future Lipidology.   2008; In press.

Sethi M, Anton JM, Collard CD. Is there a surgical role for topical aprotinin?  Anesthesiology 2008; In press.

Contact Information and Location

Cardiovascular Anesthesiology Research Department
Phone: 832-355-2666
FAX: 832-355-6500
Mailing Address:
MC 1-226  PO Box 20345
Houston, TX 77225-0345

Updated February 2008