Colloquium - 9/30, 3:00PM, Duncan Hall 1064

Daniel Penny

Chief of Pediatric Cardiology
Baylor College of Medicine/Texas Children's Hospital

"If Only I Had Understood Math"

The theme of this lecture will be that the practice of Pediatric Cardiology, that is the area of medicine dedicated to the care of children with heart disease is an ideal venue for fruitful interaction between the clinician scientist and the mathematician. This lecture will describe a number of aspects related to the care of children with heart disease where applied math and the interaction between the mathematician and clinician can potentially improve real life outcomes for children.

Our Math Problems
There are 38,000 children born in the United States each year who already have heart disease by the time they are born. This form of heart disease is known as congenital heart disease. Approximately half of the children who are born with congenital heart disease will require at least one form of invasive surgery during their lifetime for this condition. More than twice as many children die from congenital heart disease each year than from all forms of childhood cancer combined. There are over one million adults living in the United States who are living with congenital heart disease.

Our Math Laboratory
The typical, large pediatric cardiac program gathers enormous amounts of data on patients with congenital heart disease. We are continuously gathering data in the cardiac intensive care unit, in the cardiac catheter laboratory, in the echocardiography (ultrasound) laboratory. These data relate to many physiological signals which are ideally suited for meaningful mathematical interrogation. For example, our ultrasound laboratories, which looks at the structure and function of the heart in patients with congenital heart disease, gathers approximately 6.8 TB of data each year.

Possible Math Solutions
I will present a number of possible areas which I consider potentially fruitful areas for collaboration between the clinician and mathematician. I will discuss the potential role of mathematical models of the normal and abnormal circulation as an area for collaboration and potentially improving our insights into the disease mechanisms in these sick children. A second area of potential mutual interests relates to how mathematics may be used to optimize the precarious circulation in these sick children. The third area which will be discussed will be the potential role of higher level analysis of physiological signals in the critically ill child on the intensive care unit to provide early warning systems and ultimately preventive strategies for acute life threatening deterioration.