Cardiovascular Intervention

The Laboratory of Cardiovascular Intervention, led by Dr. Robert J. Lederman, creates new catheter based treatments and devices for structural heart disease and introduces them into medical practice. The lab is a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists (adult and pediatric), imaging scientists, and catheter engineers. The lab has close collaborations with luminary cardiologists across the USA and the world.

Dr. Lederman and his team invented a growing list of techniques and devices and helped introduce them into patients for the first time. More are in advanced development. In addition, Dr. Lederman’s program leads an international effort to use real-time magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to guide catheter procedures in patients.

Robert Lederman, M.D.

Senior Investigator

Meet the Team

Senior Investigator Research Interests

Research Interests

Dr. Robert Lederman is a practicing interventional cardiologist with experience in early phase human device clinical protocols who has worked for over a decade at the NHLBI intramural research program developing new non-surgical devices and image guidance to treat cardiovascular disease. Now a tenured investigator, Dr. Lederman leads a team of adult and pediatric interventional cardiologists, engineers, and physicists that has developed completely new approaches to cardiac structural intervention oriented around real-time MRI and X-ray. His team has introduced MRI hemodynamic catheterization into standard clinical practice at the NIH Clinical Center. Through CRADA partnerships, image guidance technology has been developed into commercial clinical prototypes, including MRI and X-ray co-registration to enhance conventional interventional procedures, and including a real-time MRI user interface now in routine clinical use.

Dr. Lederman's group and collaborators have conceived and translated several completely new transcatheter structural heart interventional procedures into patients, including transcaval access for TAVR, mitral cerclage annuloplasty, intentional laceration of the anterior mitral leaflet to prevent LVOT obstruction during TMVR (LAMPOON) and to release Mitraclips (ELASTACLIP), intentional laceration of the aortic leaflets to prevent coronary obstruction after TAVR (BASILICA), pledget assisted suture tricuspid annuloplasty (PASTA), transcatheter superior cavopulmonary (Glenn) shunt, and others not yet reported. The team collaborates closely with luminary cardiologists across the country to bring solutions to patients without good clinical options. They have shepherded these projects from conception, to prototyping, to in vivo testing, to compassionate human use, to systematic IDE investigation in patients, and in some cases to broad dissemination and education. They have a pipeline of new techniques, devices, and clinical research protocols under development to address right- and left-ventricular failure, tricuspid and mitral valve regurgitation, bioprosthetic failure, and congenital heart disease.

Treatments and Devices

We create new catheter based treatments and devices for structural heart disease and introduce them into medical practice.

We are a multidisciplinary team of cardiologists (adult and pediatric), imaging scientists, and catheter engineers. We have close collaborations with luminary cardiologists across the USA and the world.

We have a growing list of techniques and devices that we have invented and helped to use in humans for the first time. Many more are in advanced development.

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Clinical Trials and Studies

Heart Catheterization Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Fluoroscopy and Passive Guidewires

Recruiting

Adult, Older Adult

All Genders

Not Accepting Healthy Volunteers

Patients who require catheterization to measure heart pressures can have this procedure guided by real-time MRI to assess heart function, avoid X-ray radiation, and other features.

NHLBI Transmural Electrosurgery LeafLet Traversal And Laceration Evaluation (TELLTALE) BASILICA-TAVR Trial

Recruiting

Adult, Older Adult

All Genders

Not Accepting Healthy Volunteers

Are you at least 18 years old and have been told by your doctor that you need a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement? This study will test a new device designed specifically for use during a procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Researchers want to make transcatheter aortic valve replacement safer. To be in the study, you must be at least 18 and need a transcatheter aortic valve replacement. The study will take place in locations in California, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, D.C.

NHLBI SESAME (SEptal Scoring Along Midline Endocardium) Early Feasibility Study

Recruiting

Adult, Older Adult

All Genders

Not Accepting Healthy Volunteers

Do you have left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO)? Do you have left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO)? This study is testing a procedure where the wall between the two pumping chambers in the heart, which may become too thick in some people, is made thinner to help relieve symptoms of LVOTO. Participants will need to stay in the hospital for 2 to 6 days for this procedure. You must be over 21 years old to participate. This study is located in Atlanta, Georgia.

Meet the Team

Robert Lederman, M.D.

Senior Investigator

Robert Lederman received his B.S. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University in 1986 and his M.D. from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in 1990. He was a resident and chief resident in medicine at CWRU. He completed fellowships in cardiology (University of California, San Francisco, 1994), interventional cardiology (University of Michigan, 1996), and peripheral vascular intervention (Duke University, 1997). He was assistant professor in interventional cardiology at University of Michigan (1998-2000). He joined the NHLBI as an Investigator in the Cardiovascular Branch in 2000 to begin work in interventional cardiovascular MRI and was named a Senior Investigator (with tenure) in 2008. He has authored or coauthored more than 200 papers or book chapters. Dr. Lederman is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention, and a member of the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging. He has over two dozen patents issued or pending for his work. His lab has created over a dozen new catheter-based treatments or devices for structural heart disease.