National Medical Center specialist wins best abstract for Outstanding Research Award in Pediatric Cardiology

Award honors innovative research in cardiovascular disease in young people

David Wessel, MD, senior vice president for Hospital-Based Specialties at Children's National Medical Center, won the best abstract for Outstanding Research Award in Pediatric Cardiology by the American Heart Association's Council on Cardiovascular Disease in the Young.

The AHA will highlight Dr. Wessel's presentation, "A Randomized Trial of Clopidogrel to Reduce Mortality and Shunt-Related Morbidity in Infants Palliated with a Systemic to Pulmonary Artery Shunt," during its Scientific Sessions this week in Chicago.

"On behalf of the team of international researchers who worked with me, I'm honored to receive this award from the American Heart Association," said Dr. Wessel. "So many of the medicines we have to treat children - particularly in the critical care setting - are used off-label, and this work underscores the need to ensure that we study medications for efficacy before they become standard of care in pediatrics."

Dr. Wessel was the principal investigator and chaired the steering committee for a global trial, Clopidogrel in Neonates/Infants With Systemic To Pulmonary Artery Shunt Palliation (CLARINET). The aim of the study was to see whether the drug known as Plavix, which has been shown to be efficacious in preventing critical thrombosis in adult coronary disease, could prevent shunt thrombosis in infants.

"It is likely that it was the largest trial of a drug ever done in children with congenital heart disease: an international, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled trial, in 31 countries on five continents," noted Dr. Wessel.

A total of 906 infants less than three months of age with cyanotic congenital heart disease palliated with a shunt were randomly assigned to clopidogrel or placebo. The primary efficacy outcome event was the first occurrence of any component of a composite endpoint of death, shunt thrombosis, or a cardiac procedure before 120 days of age following a thrombotic event.

Educated and trained in medicine at Oxford, Yale and Harvard, Dr. Wessel joined Children's National Medical Center in 2007. An experienced scientist and clinical researcher, Dr. Wessel is widely viewed as the "father of pediatric cardiac intensive care." He is board certified in pediatrics, pediatric critical care, pediatric cardiology, and anesthesiology.