Clinician's Roundtable

Host: Bill Rutenberg, MD Guest: Robert Wachter, MD In this segment, Dr. Wachter talks about the specific information technology advances that have most improved patient management thus far. He then previews future information technology support that will make a more important impact.

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Deepak Bhatt, MD Join Dr. Larry Kaskel as he welcomes Dr. Deepak Bhatt, Associate Director of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Coordinating Center. Dr. Bhatt gives sheds light on ACS from the vantage point of an invasive cardiologist.

Host: Larry Kaskel, MD Guest: Deepak Bhatt, MD Dr. Larry Kaskel is joined by Dr. Deepak Bhatt who serves as the Associate Director of the Cleveland Clinic Cardiovascular Coordinating Center. Tune in to hear their discussion of ACS.

Host: Renee Matthews, MD Guest: Joan Lappe, PhD In this segment, Dr. Joan Lappe discusses the role of Vitamin D and Calcium supplementation in cancer prevention.

Host: Matthew J. Sorrentino, MD, FACC, FASH Guest: Cameron Riviere, PhD Guest: Marco Zenati, MD The HeartLander is a miniature mobile robot that delivers minimally invasive therapy to the surface of the beating heart. Drs. Cameron Riviere and Marco Zenati describe the development and uses of this unique device.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: J. Lee Nelson, MD Microchimerism may have a role to play in evolving theories in transplantation biology, HIV, Alzheimer's disease and even breast cancer. Dr. Nelson discusses some cutting-edge hypotheses and strange observations in each of these fields.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: J. Lee Nelson, MD While the transfer and persistence of fetal cells into the maternal circulation is counter-intuitive, an even stranger occurrence is the reverse. Dr. Nelson discusses the evidence that maternal cells are transferring into the fetus. In the case of neonatal lupus it appears that maternal stem cells differentiate into cardiac tissue and might incite a deleterious fetal immune response. In the case of juvenile diabetes, maternal stem cells may differentiate into islet cells that can produce insulin. It appears that this might mitigate the course of the disease.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: J. Lee Nelson, MD Fetal cells persisting in maternal tissues for 50 years and then causing a graft versus host reaction? Medicine does not get more bizarre, but this seems to be the case for systemic sclerosis. Dr. Nelson examines the growing evidence to support this new look at some of the "auto-immune" diseases.

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: J. Lee Nelson, MD Rheumatoid arthritis often improves during pregnancy. Why? Truth is stranger than fiction here as it seems that that immunologically competent fetal cells transferring into the maternal circulation help mitigate the mother's immune response to "self."

Host: Michael Benson, MD Guest: J. Lee Nelson, MD Rheumatoid Arthritis often improves during pregnancy. Why? Truth is stranger than fiction here as it appears that immunologically competent fetal cells leaking into the maternal circulation moderate the maternal immune response to "self."