In this episode of Parallax, Dr Ankur Kalra speaks with Dr Benjamin A D’Souza, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Section Chief of Cardiac Electrophysiology at Presbyterian Medical Center. Together, they explore the challenges of mitigating sudden cardiac death and the evolving role of guideline-directed medical therapy in optimising patient outcomes.

Dr D’Souza reflects on current strategies for risk assessment and prevention, highlighting the importance of medical therapy, careful monitoring and timely use of defibrillators. He stresses that management must be tailored to individual patients, with decisions guided by evidence, imaging and multidisciplinary collaboration.

The conversation also turns to women’s cardiac health and representation in electrophysiology. Dr D’Souza highlights the persistent under-enrolment of women in clinical trials and their lower access to ablation and device therapy. He stresses the need for inclusive trial design, mentorship and acknowledgement of systemic bias to improve equity in cardiovascular care.

This series is supported by ZOLL and is intended for Health Care Professionals.

EP 143: GDMT Optimisation: Mitigating SCD Risk and Addressing Women’s Cardiac Health

‘Parallax’ (/ˈparəlaks/)-noun: the effect whereby the position or direction of an object appears to differ when viewed from different positions. Join Ankur Kalra, MD as he shows you a different side to cardiovascular care, management and science. Listen to Ankur’s conversations with legendary cardiologists, critical reviews of key congresses and late-breaking trials, and concise summaries. Published every second Monday of the month, this is your fix of reliable updates on all things cardiology by someone from a non-traditional background, who is always trying to look at it from new angles! Dear cardiologists, we want to make this podcast about you, and for you! Please email us critical thoughts, comments and questions for Ankur at podcast@radcliffe-group.com.

New tracks tagged #wearable cardiac defibrillator