Better Edge : A Northwestern Medicine Podcast For Physicians

In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, S. Christopher Malaisrie, MD, surgical director, Center for Heart Valve Disease and professor of Cardiac Surgery at Northwestern Medicine, talks about the complexities, technical expertise needed and evolution of performing the Ross procedure. He also discusses the advantages of the procedure, patient selection, homograft and autograft failure and advancements on the horizon for the Ross procedure.

In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, Bradley P. Knight, MD, director, Cardiac Electrophysiology, director, Center for Heart Rhythm Disorders and the Chester C. and Deborah M. Cooley Distinguished Professor of Cardiology at Northwestern Medicine, discusses the intricacies of safely and effectively implanting LAAO devices for stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation. He talks about the criteria for determining whether a LAAO device is optimal for a patient and his greatest clinical challenge as a cardiac electrophysiologist when placing this closure device.

In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, Lubna Choudhury, MD, professor of Cardiology, at Northwestern Medicine discusses diverse manifestations, diagnostic testing, medical treatments and surgical options for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) at Northwestern Medicine. She talks about the new treatment advances on the horizon, when to refer a patient to a HCM specialist and what makes Northwestern Medicine uniquely qualified to treat HCM.

Neuro-Otologist Nicholas Hać, MD, and Neuro-Ophthalmologist Neena Cherayil, MD, both of Northwestern Medicine, shed light on eye movement abnormalities in patients with dizziness, including their causes and significance. They discuss comprehensive evaluation and optimal management strategies for patients with dizziness and eye movement abnormalities.

In this episode of the Better Edge podcast, Joy Jia Liu, MD, gastroenterologist and instructor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Northwestern Medicine, talks about the causes and prevalence of gastroparesis as well as the approaches Northwestern Medicine takes to treat gastroparesis. She goes into detail about the best practices for managing it and covers the difference between gastroparesis and functional dyspepsia.

Amy E. Krambeck, MD, of Northwestern Medicine Urology, describes the percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) equipment whiteboard her team developed. It which improved equipment communication accuracy, case item accuracy and PCNL cost efficiency. Their evaluation was recently published in Urology.

This episode of the Better Edge podcast features Anita Kou, MD, physiatrist, and Leslie S. Rogers, PhD, psychologist, both at Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital. They discuss how psychology is incorporated into spinal cord injury rehabilitation at Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital and how it benefits patients. Dr. Kou and Rogers talk about Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital’s multidisciplinary approach to evaluating and treating patients with spinal cord injuries and how they involve the patient’s family in the recovery process.

This episode of the Better Edge podcast features Michael David Stover, MD, professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Northwestern Medicine, and Sanjeev Bhatia, MD, orthopaedic surgeon at Northwestern Medicine and director of the Hip and Knee Joint Preservation Center. They talk about the field of hip preservation and the different types of hip preservation surgeries available, including all-arthroscopic versus combined open-and-arthroscopic surgery. Dr. Stover and Dr. Bhatia also discuss ideal candidates for these types of hip preservation surgeries and how the approach taken at Northwestern Medicine leads to a higher number of positive patient outcomes.

This episode of the Better Edge podcast features James L. Reilly, MD, associate professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Northwestern Medicine. Dr. Reilly discusses neuropsychological testing at Northwestern Medicine and how teams use it to establish a baseline of brain function to measure rehabilitation progress in patients with brain injuries. He goes into detail about the multidisciplinary approach to “brain mapping” in the OR that provides real-time feedback during brain surgery.

Northwestern Medicine scientists, led by Joshua J. Meeks, MD, PhD, have developed a biomarker signature test to predict which patients with bladder cancer will respond to immunotherapy. The discovery, from a new study published in Nature Communications, could improve the survival of bladder cancer patients. Dr. Meeks joins this episode of the Better Edge podcast to discuss the results.