Dr. Anson Lee achieves high recognition for work with Atrial Fibrillation
June 11, 2021
Dr. Lee is an Assistant Professor Cardiothoracic Surgery at Stanford. Dr. Anson Lee specializes in the surgical treatment of all heart diseases, including ischemic heart disease, structural heart disease, aortic disease, and arrhythmias. He has practiced cardiothoracic surgery at Stanford since 2015. Dr. Lee has a special interest in the surgical treatment of abnormal heart rhythms (Atrial Fibrillation) and minimally invasive techniques to treat heart disease.
In January 2020, in collaboration with the Stanford department of Chemical Engineering, Dr. Lee was recognized as the co-senior author and published research on, "Intrinsically stretchable electrode array enabled in vivo electrophysiological mapping of atrial fibrillation at cellular resolution." This research describes novel "Elastronic" stretchable bioelectronic sensors capable of performing high-resolution electrophysiological heart measurements. This research was published in PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences).
Figure. Fabrication and assembly of the elastrode array for AF mapping. (A) Schematic showing the application of a fully stretchable elastrode array to the epicardial surface to identify the pathological regions in AF. (B) Schematic showing structure and connections of the elastrode array. (C) Schematics showing the stepwise fabrication processes of freestanding elastrode array. (D–F) Optical photographic images illustrating the ultralight weight (D), high flexibility (E), and stretchability (F) of the freestanding elastrode array.
In Dr. Lee's most recent paper, "Screening and Prophylactic Amiodarone Reduces Post-Operative Atrial Fibrillation in At-Risk Patients" published in JACC (Journals of the American College of Cardiology) in March 2020, his research identifies that "a subset of patients undergoing cardiac surgery who derive maximal benefit from prophylactic amiodarone treatment, resulting in reduced rates of POAF and likely hospital read-missions." This study is a prospective randomized clinical trial designed, conducted, analyzed, and published by Dr. Anson Lee. His research was derived from Large animal preclinical translation and immense clinical applicability.
Figure. Intraoperative Screening for AF Identifies Patients at Risk for POAF
Prophylactic amiodarone therapy targeted to patients with inducible atrial fibrillation (AF) significantly reduces the incidence of post-operative atrial fibrillation (POAF).
Amiodarone treatment in patients with inducible intraoperative AF was associated with a 43% absolute risk reduction in POAF and reduced hospital readmissions.
These groundbreaking papers in PNAS and JACC are the first studies of their kind. Dr. Lee's work exemplifies what he, and many of our faculty, strive to achieve across clinical, research, and education missions of academic medicine.
Dr. Anson Lee