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by his mother's development of heart failure as a result of lymphoma treatment, Dr. Plana has developed and put into practice at Cleveland Clinic a protocol for monitoring the hearts of cancer patients while oncologists treat their cancer. This protocol uses an imaging technology called strain echocardiography for early detection of heart damage from the toxic effects of chemotherapy. Strain echocardiography, also called strain imaging, is a non-invasive method of assessing myocardial function and detecting myocardial damage using ultrasound technology and a special software processing platform. "Using this technology, we have recognized that asymptomatic left ventricle dysfunction can occur in up to 32% of patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer," says Dr. Plana. "The good news is that, once identified, the damage can be curtailed before it becomes permanent." About Dr. Plana Born, raised and educated through medical school in Colombia, South America, Dr. Plana came to the United States in 1997 for residency training in internal medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. He stayed at Baylor for a fellowship in cardiovascular disease, including a year in cardiac imaging, achieving level III certification in echocardiography and level II certification in nuclear cardiology. Two years later, he joined M.D. Anderson where, in 2006, he became Medical Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory and Director of Cardiac Imaging. He also served as an assistant professor at the University of Texas School of Medicine. "While I was at M.D. Anderson, there was some preliminary work being done at Harvard Medical School that showed a new technology called strain imaging would be of help to recognize cardiotoxicity in animals," says Dr. Plana. "So I partnered with them and other investigators in centers in the U.S. and Canada to develop a research project to see if this technology would be of help in humans to recognize chemotherapy toxicit y at an earlier stage, when potential administration of treatment would prevent a progression to heart failure and death. And, indeed, we found that it was of help." Since then, Dr. Plana has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator on a number of clinical trials related to chemotherapy and cardiovascular disease, drug safety and heart failure. He has authored or co-authored more than 40 original research articles, abstracts, and book chapters a nd is a f requent speaker at leading cardiac medicine conferences nationally and internationally. He serves as a reviewer in several cardiac and imaging journals, and he will join the Board of Dr. plana has developed and put into practice a protocol for monitoring the hearts of breast cancer patients during treatment. this protocol uses strain echocardiography and special software for early detection of heart damage from the toxic effects of chemotherapy. JULY-AUGUST 2013 ■ MDNEWS.COM ■ MD News Cleveland/Akron/Canton |9