About

David A. Bluemke, MD, MSB, PhD, joined the Department of Radiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in July 2017 as a professor (CHS) in the Thoracic Imaging and Cardiovascular Imaging Sections. Prior to this, he served as radiologist-in-chief at the NIH Clinical Center, a tenured senior investigator at the NIH National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering and Clinical Center, and an adjunct senior investigator at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. He was also a Professor of Radiology and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Dr. Bluemke completed his medical degree and PhD in Biophysics at the University of Chicago, and his residency, fellowship, and MS in Business at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His research focuses on diagnostic radiology and cardiovascular disease, with notable work as principal investigator for MRI studies in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA). He has authored over 800 publications and is the Editor Emeritus of the journal Radiology. Dr. Bluemke has received numerous honors, including the highest award from the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and lifetime honored educator awards from the Radiological Society of North America.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Cardiology
• Internal medicine
• Radiology
• Computer Science

Selected publications

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease is Associated with Impaired Cardiac Hemodynamics: A SPIROMICS HF Study

  Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition · 2024

  • Cardiology
  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine

  Motivation: Previous studies have suggested impaired cardiovascular function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the association between lung disease severity and the degree of cardiac hemodynamic impairment is not well understood. Goal(s): We aimed to characterize the hemodynamic changes seen in COPD in order to gain insight into the mechanisms relating COPD and heart failure. Approach: We analyzed 4D-flow derived hemodynamics in a preliminary sample of 72 participants from the SPIROMICS-HF study. Results: We found that impaired hemodynamics in the right atrium (blood flow kinetic energy and velocity) and pulmonary artery (flow stasis and velocity) are associated with greater COPD severity. Impact: This study represents a key step in exploring the cardiopulmonary hemodynamic interaction in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

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• Venous Return in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Assessed with 4D Flow MRI

  Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition · 2024

  • Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Internal medicine

  Motivation: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and emphysema are associated with hemodynamic changes in the pulmonary vasculature, possibly related to increased intra-thoracic pressure during expiration, altering venous return into the thorax. Goal(s): Assess the association of respiratory dysfunction with hemodynamic parameters of venous return. Approach: Velocity, kinetic energy, and stasis in the superior vena cava and inferior vena cava were quantified with 4D Flow MRI in 72 subjects across the COPD spectrum in an ongoing study (SPIROMICS HF). Results: Our results show an association of impaired (reduced) venous return to the thorax with airway obstruction as assessed by spirometry. Impact: This study demonstrates impaired venous return in subjects with COPD, which warrant further investigations into the cardiopulmonary interactions of right heart flow in COPD and its potential value as a noninvasive marker of disease progression.

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• Estimated Cardiac Hemodynamics using Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography Emphysema Subtypes (CTES): The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Study

  13.01 - Pulmonary hypertension · 2024

  • Computer Science
  • Medicine
  • Cardiology

  <bold>Background:</bold> Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a complication of COPD and emphysema. Contemporary subphenotypes of COPD at risk for PH is unclear. <bold>Aim:</bold> To investigate the association between estimated cardiac hemodynamics on cardiac MRI and CTES in a community-based sample with and without COPD. <bold>Methods:</bold> MESA COPD is a nested COPD case-control study of participants aged 50–79 with ≥10 packyear smoking history without cardiovascular disease. Participants underwent spirometry, lung CT and cardiac MRI. CTES were labeled by an unsupervised machine learning model validated in an independent sample. Estimated mean pulmonary artery pressure (ePAP), pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (ePAWP), and pulmonary vascular resistance (ePVR) were calculated using validated equations on cardiac MRI. Adjusted linear regression models were used to evaluate the relationship between CTES and estimated hemodynamics. <bold>Results:</bold> The 301 participants were 68±7 years old, 60% male, 28% currently smoking, and 145 participants had COPD (42% mild, 45% moderate and 13% severe). The combined bronchitic-apical emphysema subtype was associated with greater ePAP (1.08 mmHg per 10% increment, 95% CI 0.40, 1.75). The diffuse subtype was associated with lower ePAWP (−0.49 mmHg per 10% increment, 95% CI -0.75, -0.24) and greater ePVR (0.36 Wood units per 10% increment, 95% CI: 0.10, 0.61). <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Greater ePAP was specific to combined bronchitic-apical emphysema; greater ePVR was associated with diffuse emphysema. Precision emphysema phenotyping may inform risk stratification for PH in COPD.

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• Impact of COVID-19 on Cardiovascular Testing in the United States Versus the Rest of the World

  JACC. Cardiovascular imaging · 2021 · 39 citations

  • Medicine
  • Emergency medicine
  • Demography

  OBJECTIVES: This study sought to quantify and compare the decline in volumes of cardiovascular procedures between the United States and non-U.S. institutions during the early phase of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the care of many non-COVID-19 illnesses. Reductions in diagnostic cardiovascular testing around the world have led to concerns over the implications of reduced testing for cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality. METHODS: Data were submitted to the INCAPS-COVID (International Atomic Energy Agency Non-Invasive Cardiology Protocols Study of COVID-19), a multinational registry comprising 909 institutions in 108 countries (including 155 facilities in 40 U.S. states), assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volumes of diagnostic cardiovascular procedures. Data were obtained for April 2020 and compared with volumes of baseline procedures from March 2019. We compared laboratory characteristics, practices, and procedure volumes between U.S. and non-U.S. facilities and between U.S. geographic regions and identified factors associated with volume reduction in the United States. RESULTS: Reductions in the volumes of procedures in the United States were similar to those in non-U.S. facilities (68% vs. 63%, respectively; p = 0.237), although U.S. facilities reported greater reductions in invasive coronary angiography (69% vs. 53%, respectively; p < 0.001). Significantly more U.S. facilities reported increased use of telehealth and patient screening measures than non-U.S. facilities, such as temperature checks, symptom screenings, and COVID-19 testing. Reductions in volumes of procedures differed between U.S. regions, with larger declines observed in the Northeast (76%) and Midwest (74%) than in the South (62%) and West (44%). Prevalence of COVID-19, staff redeployments, outpatient centers, and urban centers were associated with greater reductions in volume in U.S. facilities in a multivariable analysis. CONCLUSIONS: We observed marked reductions in U.S. cardiovascular testing in the early phase of the pandemic and significant variability between U.S. regions. The association between reductions of volumes and COVID-19 prevalence in the United States highlighted the need for proactive efforts to maintain access to cardiovascular testing in areas most affected by outbreaks of COVID-19 infection.

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• Chronic inflammation in psoriasis promotes visceral adiposity associated with noncalcified coronary burden over time

  JCI Insight · 2020 · 31 citations

  • Medicine
  • Internal medicine
  • Cardiology

  BACKGROUNDPsoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease associated with increased obesity, noncalcified coronary artery burden (NCB), and incident myocardial infarction. Here, we sought to assess the relationship among inflammation, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), and NCB. Furthermore, we evaluated whether improvement in VAT would be associated with reduction in NCB over time in psoriasis.METHODSConsecutive psoriasis patients underwent coronary CT angiography to quantify NCB and abdominal CT to calculate VAT at baseline (n = 237), 1 year (n = 176), and 4 years (n = 50).RESULTSPatients with high levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) had significantly greater visceral adiposity (17,952.9 ± 849.2 cc3 vs. 13370.7 ± 806.8 cc3, P < 0.001) and noncalcified coronary burden (1.26 ± 0.03 vs. 1.07 ± 0.02 mm2) than those with low levels of hs-CRP. Those with higher levels of VAT had more systemic inflammation (hs-CRP, median [IQR], 2.5 mg/L [1.0-5.3 mg/L] vs. 1.2 mg/L [0.6-2.9 mg/L]), with approximately 50% higher NCB (1.42 ± 0.6 mm2 vs. 0.91 ± 0.2 mm2, P < 0.001). VAT associated with NCB in fully adjusted models (β = 0.47, P < 0.001). At 1-year follow-up, patients who had worsening hs-CRP had an increase in VAT (14,748.7 ± 878.1 cc3 to 15,158.7 ± 881.5 cc3; P = 0.03), whereas those who had improved hs-CRP improved their VAT (16,876.1 ± 915.2 cc3 to 16310.4 ± 889.6 cc3; P = 0.04). At 1 year, there was 10.3% reduction in NCB in those who had decreased VAT (β = 0.26, P < 0.0001), which persisted in a subset of patients at 4 years (β = 0.39, P = 0.003).CONCLUSIONSInflammation drives development of VAT, increased cardiometabolic risk, and NCB in psoriasis. Reduction of inflammation associated with reduction in VAT and associated with longitudinal improvement in NCB. These findings demonstrate the important role of inflammation in the development of VAT in humans and its effect on early atherogenesis.TRIAL REGISTRATIONClinicalTrials.gov NCT01778569.FUNDINGThis study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Intramural Research Program (HL006193-05), the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program, a public-private partnership supported jointly by the NIH and contributions to the Foundation for the NIH from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (no. 2014194), the American Association for Dental Research, the Colgate-Palmolive Company, Genentech, and Elsevier as well as private donors.

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• Reference ranges (“normal values”) for cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) in adults and children: 2020 update

  Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance · 2020 · 580 citations

  • Medicine
  • Cardiology
  • Internal medicine

  Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) enables assessment and quantification of morphological and functional parameters of the heart, including chamber size and function, diameters of the aorta and pulmonary arteries, flow and myocardial relaxation times. Knowledge of reference ranges ("normal values") for quantitative CMR is crucial to interpretation of results and to distinguish normal from disease. Compared to the previous version of this review published in 2015, we present updated and expanded reference values for morphological and functional CMR parameters of the cardiovascular system based on the peer-reviewed literature and current CMR techniques. Further, databases and references for deep learning methods are included.

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Frequent coauthors

• Bharath Ambale‐Venkatesh

  7 shared

• Colin O. Wu

  Harvard University

  5 shared

• João A.C. Lima

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  4 shared

• Benjamin M. Smith

  McGill University Health Centre

  3 shared

• Martin R. Prince

  3 shared

• Wei Shen

  3 shared

• Prachi P. Agarwal

  Manipal Academy of Higher Education

  3 shared

• Eric A. Hoffman

  University of Iowa

  3 shared

Awards & honors

• Gold Medal Award from the Society for Cardiovascular Magneti…
• Lifetime Honored Educator Awards from the Radiological Socie…

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