Neurology and Cardiology: A Talk Between...

Do you think and act with your mind or heart? How about both?

Neurocardiology refers to the intersection between the fields of neurology and cardiology. The mind and heart are deeply interconnected in terms of anatomy, physiology, and various pathologic states.

This episode features a vascular neurologist and an interventional cardiologist who will discuss the relationship between their two fields of medicine.

Dr. Blake Buletko is a vascular neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic. He completed his residency and fellowship training at the Cleveland Clinic and was the former medical director of their mobile stroke program. In addition to his clinical responsibilities, Dr. Buletko serves as an Assistant Professor at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and is the current Program Director of the Adult Neurology Residency program for the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Ankur Kalra is an interventional cardiologist, and founder of the non-profit startup, makeadent.org. He is director of Barry J. Maron Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Center in New Delhi, India. He is also the host of the cardiology podcast show, Parallax. He has presented late-breaking science at national and international scientific cardiovascular meetings, and has published over 250 scientific manuscripts in various peer-reviewed journals. His past appointments include interventional cardiologist, associate professor, and medical director of clinical research for regional cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.

Studies mentioned in this episode:

Goldstein LB, El Husseini N. Neurología y cardiología: puntos de contacto [Neurology and cardiology: points of contact]. Rev Esp Cardiol. 2011 Apr;64(4):319-27. Spanish. doi: 10.1016/j.recesp.2010.12.004. Epub 2011 Mar 15. PMID: 21411208.

Gottesman RF, McKhann GM, Hogue CW. Neurological complications of cardiac surgery. Semin Neurol. 2008 Nov;28(5):703-15. doi: 10.1055/s-0028-1105973. Epub 2008 Dec 29. PMID: 19115176; PMCID: PMC5607742.

Jabri A, Kalra A, Kumar A, et al. Incidence of Stress Cardiomyopathy During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(7):e2014780. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.14780

Lacerte M, Hays Shapshak A, Mesfin FB. Hypoxic Brain Injury. [Updated 2022 Nov 26]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK537310/

Oppenheimer SM, Lima J. Neurology and the heart. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 1998;64:289-297.

Samuels, M. A. (2007). The brain–heart connection. Circulation, 116(1), 77–84. https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.106.678995

Sherman, D. G., Hart, R. G., & Shi, F. (1987). Heart-brain interactions: Neurocardiology or cardioneurology comes of age. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 62(12), 1158–1160. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0025-6196(12)62513-0 

Wang X, Pei J, Hu X. The Brain-Heart Connection in Takotsubo Syndrome: The Central Nervous System, Sympathetic Nervous System, and Catecholamine Overload. Cardiol Res Pract. 2020 Mar 9;2020:4150291. doi: 10.1155/2020/4150291. PMID: 32211202; PMCID: PMC7085406.