Ali Dodge-Khatami1, Jin Ye Yeo2
1Minimal Invasive Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery, Children’s Heart Center RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany; 2AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company
Correspondence to: Jin Ye Yeo. AMJ Editorial Office, AME Publishing Company. Email: amj@amegroups.com
This interview can be cited as: Dodge-Khatami A, Yeo JY. Meeting the Editorial Board Member of AMJ: Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami. AME Med J. 2024. Available from: https://amj.amegroups.org/post/view/meeting-the-editorial-board-member-of-amj-dr-ali-dodge-khatami.
Expert introduction
Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami (Figure 1) is a Pediatric & Congenital Heart Surgeon and Professor of Cardiac Surgery at the RWTH University Hospital in Aachen, Germany. He graduated from medical school in Geneva, Switzerland (1991) and accomplished his Cardiovascular Surgical training in Switzerland (1998). Congenital Heart Surgical Fellowships were in Chicago (1998-99) at Children’s Memorial Hospital, and in London, UK (1999-2000) at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children.
Fully dedicated to congenital heart surgery since 2000, his faculty positions included The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany where he was Head of Program in Hamburg, Germany (2008-2012). From 2013-2022, leadership roles in the USA included Jackson MS, Houston TX, and System Chief at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New York. He speaks fluent English, French, and German, and is proficient in Persian, Dutch, and Spanish.
Author of more than 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 10 book chapters, he has been committed to research, faculty, resident, and student teaching during 25 years of post-graduate full-time appointments at University Hospitals culminating in a Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands (2003). His involvement with The Novick Cardiac Alliance and dedication to promoting congenital heart surgery in developing nations (Ukraine, Russian Federation, Vietnam, Kenya, DR Congo, Libya, Lebanon, Northern Macedonia, and Honduras) has been continuous since 2008.
Figure 1 Dr. Ali Dodge-Khatami
Interview
AMJ: What drew you into the field of pediatric and congenital heart surgery?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: I was drawn to the field mostly by serendipity of having two unexpected role models, by their personalities, their encyclopedic knowledge, their surgical skills, the way they went about teaching congenital heart surgery, and by the way they made even beginners like me feel part of a larger family of people whose main passion was to help children born with heart defects: Dr. Constantine Mavroudis, and Dr. Carl L. Backer, at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. I am still trying to follow in their footsteps…
AMJ: As an expert in congenital heart surgery, you must have seen significant changes in surgical techniques and technologies over the years. In your opinion, which innovations have had the most profound impact on patient outcomes?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: There is better understanding/decision-making for single ventricle and borderline 2 ventricle physiology and balancing Qp/Qs, huge refinements in perfusion/cardiopulmonary bypass technology and cardioplegia (del Nido) allowing safer repairs despite longer/complex procedures in sicker babies. There are also bolder approaches to valvar pathologies using either autologous translocations, ventricular switches, or other rerouting operations to compensate for challenges faced by inflow or outflow issues.
AMJ: In your view, what are the most pressing research questions in congenital heart surgery today, and where do you see the field advancing in the next 5 to 10 years?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: I have no crystal ball, but my guess is that preventive medicine (ie. Genetics) or attitudes towards healthcare in general from the society/parents and governmental health regulations may have a heavier impact on which babies will still be born and with which cardiac defects, rather than how research will tackle things. What’s left? Tissue-engineered-growing valves, long-lasting myocardial cells/tissue that will incorporate, and, last, better solutions to the Fontan-Kreutzer paradigm.
AMJ: As someone who has held leadership positions in different parts of the world, what do you think are the most significant challenges facing pediatric heart surgeons today, especially those working in different healthcare systems?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: Despite variations in healthcare systems across the world, some patterns recur everywhere: expectations have risen to levels leaving little margin for learning curves, hospital governances want more for less (ie. we need to continue providing excellence at a lower material cost with less manpower: some would provocatively call this efficiency…), working hours/training regulations are restraining the time required to gather experience, and the upcoming generation is growing up with another mindset with regards to professional priorities – you do the math.
AMJ: You are also involved in humanitarian efforts as part of The Novick Cardiac Alliance. Can you tell us more about some of the challenges and successes you have encountered in these efforts?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: There is still a lot of room on many continents to introduce, establish, and improve on providing healthcare for children with congenital heart defects. Be it in countries during peacetime or in conflict zones, finding political stability and sound funding over many years remains a great challenge in many regions due to numerous potential obstacles that could fill book chapters. On the bright side, saving the life/improving the health status of EACH CHILD, one at a time, is a SUCCESS, for each family and perhaps extended to its community.
AMJ: Looking back on your extensive career, what achievements are you most proud of, and what would you consider to be your legacy in the field of congenital heart surgery?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: I am still in the longer-than-expected process of heavily advocating for minimal invasive repairs in infants and children through mini thoracic incisions as opposed to the traditional median sternotomy: when you are in the thick of it yourself, you can falsely assume that it is a self-explanatory approach for everyone. I am proud to have participated in its technical development, and efforts at sharing knowledge through publications, surgical films, and in-person teaching, hoping it will become mainstream. I truly believe that it has inherent advantages for infants and children, not only physically but also psychologically. Time will tell if it is a legacy or not.
AMJ: As an Editorial Board Member, what are your expectations and aspirations for AMJ?
Dr. Dodge-Khatami: Becoming a go-to resource for knowledge, expert opinion, and critical thinking in the field of pediatric medicine, more specifically in the domain of heart health.