Cardiac AmyloidosisEndomyocardial biopsy in cardiac amyloidosis using hematoxylin and eosin stain (left panel) and a sulfated alcian blue stain (right panel). The left panel shows a prominent interstitium which is expanded by an acellular, eosinophilic substance (arrows). The myocardial cells are of uneven size and are often vacuolated. The massive amyloid deposits are identified by a positive affinity for sulfated alcian blue (producing a green color), a histochemical reaction equivalent to the Congo red stain.Cardiac AmyloidosisEndomyocardial biopsy in cardiac amyloidosis using hematoxylin and eosin stain (left panel) and a sulfated alcian blue stain (right panel). The left panel shows a prominent interstitium which is expanded by an acellular, eosinophilic substance (arrows). The myocardial cells are of uneven size and are often vacuolated. The massive amyloid deposits are identified by a positive affinity for sulfated alcian blue (producing a green color), a histochemical reaction equivalent to the Congo red stain.
Cardiac MechanicsSpeckle tracking echocardiography is an advanced echocardiographic analysis technique that is used to quantify myocardial strain. The images above demonstrate speckle tracking of the left ventricle from the apical four chamber view (left) and a series of strain graphs illustrating longitudinal strain in a seventeen segment model of the heart (right).Cardiac MechanicsSpeckle tracking echocardiography is an advanced echocardiographic analysis technique that is used to quantify myocardial strain. The images above demonstrate speckle tracking of the left ventricle from the apical four chamber view (left) and a series of strain graphs illustrating longitudinal strain in a seventeen segment model of the heart (right).
Lab OutingNU night at Cubs game.Lab OutingNU night at Cubs game.
The Investiture of Dr. Sanjiv Shah as the Stone ProfessorOn August 21, 2018, Sanjiv J. Shah, MD, was formally invested as the Neil J. Stone, MD Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. In a formal ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton, Dr. Shah was joined by his family and colleagues, Northwestern Medicine leadership, and the generous donor who made the Stone Professorship possible—John Flanagan, ’58 MBA.The Investiture of Dr. Sanjiv Shah as the Stone ProfessorOn August 21, 2018, Sanjiv J. Shah, MD, was formally invested as the Neil J. Stone, MD Professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. In a formal ceremony at the Ritz-Carlton, Dr. Shah was joined by his family and colleagues, Northwestern Medicine leadership, and the generous donor who made the Stone Professorship possible—John Flanagan, ’58 MBA.
About Our Lab
Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) accounts for > 50% of all heart failure cases and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. HFpEF prevalence is increasing with the aging population and the ongoing epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. HFpEF is under-recognized, diagnosis can be challenging, and there are few proven therapies for HFpEF. Therefore, in 2007, Dr. Sanjiv Shah started the world's first dedicated clinical program for HFpEF at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine with the goal of improving the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of HFpEF. Since 2007, the Northwestern HFpEF Program has been instrumental in understanding: (1) the pathogenesis of HFpEF development; (2) the pathophysiology of the complex HFpEF syndrome; (3) sub-phenotyping of HFpEF with machine learning; and (4) improving clinical trial enrollment and testing novel therapies for HFpEF. In our laboratory, we continue to study these aspects of the HFpEF syndrome in animal and cellular models, large-scale population-based epidemiology studies, HFpEF clinical trials, and in clinical physiological studies in patients with prevalent HFpEF. Major tools used in our laboratory include speckle-tracking echocardiography, ventricular-arterial coupling analyses, invasive and non-invasive pressure-volume analysis, and machine learning.
Recent Publications
Shah SJ, Borlaug BA, Kitzman DW, McCulloch AD, Blaxall BC, Agarwal R, Chirinos JA, Collins S, Deo RC, Gladwin MT, Granzier H, Hummel SL, Kass DA, Redfield MM, Sam F, Wang TJ, Desvigne-Nickens P, Adhikari BB. Research Priorities for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Working Group Summary. Circulation. 2020 Mar 24;141(12):1001-1026. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.119.041886. Epub 2020 Mar 23. PubMed PMID: 32202936; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7101072.
Sanders-van Wijk S, Tromp J, Beussink-Nelson L, Hage C, Svedlund S, Saraste A, Swat SA, Sanchez C, Njoroge J, Tan RS, Fermer ML, Gan LM, Lund LH, Lam CSP, Shah SJ. Proteomic Evaluation of the Comorbidity-Inflammation Paradigm in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction: Results from the PROMIS-HFpEF Study. Circulation. 2020 Oct 9. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.120.045810. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33034202.
Announcements
- Congratulations to Ravi Patel for receiving the NUCATS KL2 career development award, as well as winning the Department of Medicine’s Jameson Research award for the top fellow in the DOM for their research during their fellowship.
- Dr. Shah presented the results of the Axon Therapies First-in-Human Trial of greater splanchnic nerve ablation to reduce splanchnic vasoconstriction in HFpEF at the recent HFSA Scientific Sessions 2020. Click here to view article.
- NHLBI HFpEF Working Group (chaired by Sanjiv Shah, MD) has published it's recommendations on research priorities in HFpEF: Click here to view the article.
