CCS Newsletter - Volume 6 No.11 -  November 2004

Jamaican born Mercedes K.C. Dullum M.D. the only female board certified cardiothoracic surgeon in South Florida and Sinda Dianzumba M.D. Associate Professor in Medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine made history when they delivered the first annual cardiology and cardiac surgery lectures at the 19th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Cardiac Society (CCS) recently held at Sandals Grande Resort and Spa, Castries, St. Lucia.  The theme of the Conference was “Managing Change in Cardiac Care.”

Dr. Dullum a member of the Cardiac surgical team at the Cleveland Clinic, Florida made her presentation on “The Impact of New Treatment Options in Heart Failure and Valvular Disease.” In her lecture, Dr. Dullum discussed the current definitions of heart failure which she said “encompasses the ever increasing knowledge we have about the deleterious neurohormonal cycles set up in patients with HF.” She pointed to the combined medical and surgical treatment of patients by way of minimally invasive options for heart failure management. “Follow up suggests this simplified approach reduces patient pain and morbidity without jeopardizing surgical results.”