Apr 16, 2020
Dr. Vinicio de Jesus Perez is an associate professor of
pulmonary and critical care medicine at Stanford University,
and practicing cardiopulmonologist who specializes in research and
the clinical care of patients with pulmonary hypertension.
He joins the show today to discuss the details of this interesting
and important career, including the following:
Dr. De Jesus Perez begins by illustrating the road that led him
to pursue a path of medicine in the field of cardiopulmonology and
critical care. He details one of the most difficult and memorable
patients he saw in his early days as a medical intern, and how the
experience spurred his desire to dive more deeply into an
understanding of pulmonary hypertension.
He explains the fascinating and somewhat unusual uptick in the
number of cases of pulmonary hypertension in the 1960s in
correlation with a weight loss drug called aminorex, and the
discovery that pulmonary hypertension can be both a disease on its
own as well as a complication of other disease processes, including
lung fibrosis, left heart failure, kidney failure, HIV, and
scleroderma.
In order to meet the needs of patients with pulmonary
hypertension and properly equip medical professionals for dealing
with the disease, Dr. De Jesus Perez’s group was one of the first
to establish a pulmonary fellowship program aimed at training
professionals to understand, diagnose, and treat pulmonary
hypertension.
Tune in to hear the full conversation and learn about the many
resources for additional information on pulmonary hypertension,
including http://med.stanford.edu/wallcenter.html.