Marinos Charalambous MD

 

Detailed Description

Dr. Marinos Charalambous graduated at the top of his class from University of Crete School of Medicine in Greece in 2010. After receiving his M.D. degree, Dr. Charalambous was accepted into a highly competitive Internal Medicine residency at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (New Jersey). After exceling in his internal medicine residency, Dr. Charalambous was accepted at the very prestigious Cardiology Fellowship program at Northwell Health in New York. During his Cardiology fellowship he was offered to serve as Chief Cardiology fellow which is a testament to being recognized as a leader amongst his peers. After finishing his Cardiology Fellowship, he was offered a very competitive position as an Interventional Cardiology fellow at the same institution where he trained on how to perform some of the most advanced and technically difficult procedures performed in patients with heart problems. After finishing his Interventional Cardiology Fellowship, he joined Northwell Health as an attending physician and assisted in creating one of very few programs in the country that specialize in treating complex and high-risk patients that need a procedure for their heart condition [Complex High-risk Indicated Procedures (CHIP) program].

Dr. Charalambous served as an attending physician at Northwell Health in New York and as an Attending Physician at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, USA.

He also served as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Cardiology at the Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/ Northwell, New York and as an Assistant Professor at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

He is one of few Interventional cardiologists in United States and worldwide that have completed a dedicated fellowship in the area of Complex High-risk Indicated Procedures / Chronic Total Occlusions (CHIP/CTOs).

Over the last years, Dr. Charalambous has engaged in cutting edge research and groundbreaking invasive procedures.

 

Research

• He was the principal investigator of a study that proved the feasibility, efficacy and safety of repeated transradial catheterization procedures. That study showed that the radial artery in the wrist can be used as the default access method for repeated heart procedures. Dr. Charalambous is considered an expert in the field of transradial heart catheterization, and he serves as a reviewer in journals that publish studies performed in this field.
• In another study, Dr. Charalambous has assessed the prognostic significance of a normal or near normal heart angiogram in patients age 65 and above. Through that study he provided data that allow us to predict the survival of such patients.
• In 2015, Dr. Charalambous studied the Epidemiology of Stress-Induced Heart Failure (Takotsubo Cardiomypathy) and identified that this condition was underrecognized. He showed that early recognition of this condition, can result in improved outcomes.
• In 2018, he published a study on the use of Impella heart pumps to stabilize patients presenting with Acute Myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and Cardiogenic Shock (low blood pressure due to heart failure). This study was the first to show that this is a valid therapeutic option in this group of patients.
• Dr. Charalambous created a database and analyzed the data of all procedures performed for the treatment of Chronic Total Occlusions in the heart. Chronic total occlusions are a type of blockage in the arteries of the heart that is very difficult to treat. Attempting to place a stent in a Chronic Total Occlusion is considered very high risk and it is not attempted by the majority of Interventional cardiologists. Because of this, very little data are known for the treatment of such lesions.
• Dr. Charalambous has performed clinical research on advanced hemodynamic support (placement of temporary heart pumps) in patients presenting with heart failure of different etiologies. During his time at Northwell Health he was part of a team that treated a very large number of patients presenting with cardiogenic shock (low blood pressure due to heart failure) who required this type of support with temporary heart pumps (Impella heart pumps and ECMO – ExtraCorporeal Membrane Oxygenation).

 

Procedures

• Dr. Charalambous completed a highly-competitive fellowship in Interventional Cardiology, and he is considered an expert in placing stents in the arteries of the heart (coronary arteries) both in the setting of a heart attack (emergently) and for the treatment of chronic chest pain and shortness of breath. In addition to that, he is one of few Interventional cardiologists in United States and worldwide that have completed a dedicated fellowship in the area of Complex High-risk Indicated Procedures / Chronic Total Occlusions (CHIP/CTOs).
• Dr. Charalambous is an expert in placing all types of Impella devices (temporary heart pumps). Although Impella devices were exclusively placed through an artery in the groin (femoral artery), Dr. Charalambous’ team has pioneered the placement of these devices through an artery in the shoulder (axillary artery). Dr. Charalambous and his mentor Dr. Meraj, performed the first case of Impella placement through the axillary artery in New York.
• Dr. Charalambous pioneered a technique called Single-Access Impella during which a needle is used to access the Impella heart pump insertion catheter and insert equipment to open the arteries of the heart without the need for using a different artery of the body as a second access site. Based on Dr. Charalambous’ pioneering work the Single-Access technique was formally assessed by the manufacturer who subsequently submitted modifications to the FDA and now the technique called Single-Access Impella is cleared by the FDA for routine use.
• Dr. Charalambous and his mentor Dr. Meraj have created one of the few programs in United States that treat Chronic Total Occlusions. Dr. Charalambous has successfully performed a large number of these procedures and has helped an equal number of patients that were suffering from this condition and in many cases had no other treatment option other than the procedure performed by Dr. Charalambous. Dr. Charalambous also performed clinical research on these types of procedures with the goal of identifying the optimum way that interventional cardiologists should treat these difficult lesions. His research was presented at major national conferences and the results were published in major peer-reviewed journals.

 

Other Academic Work

• Dr. Charalambous is an article reviewer for various journals including the Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions (CCI) journal and the Journal of Interventional Cardiology. These journals are indexed in Pubmed and are highly regarded journals in the field of Interventional cardiology. The Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions (CCI) journal is the official journal of the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (SCAI). SCAI is a national society establishing standards and guidelines for all aspects of cardiac catheterization and also provides training, credentialing, safety, and quality assurance for cardiovascular procedures.
• CBNC EXAM WRITING: Board Exam Question Writing and part of the 2020 Committee for review of the exam questions used for the Certification Exam in Nuclear Cardiology – CBNC (Certification Board in Nuclear Cardiology)