Masood Ahmad

Dr. Masood Ahmad received his medical degree from Kashmir Medical College in Kashmir, India. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Euclid General Hospital in Cleveland Ohio and at Long Island Jewish/Queens Hospital Center in New York. Dr. Ahmad completed his fellowship in cardiology at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and in cardiovascular disease. He is a Fellow of the Royal college of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. Prior to coming to UTMB, Dr. Ahmad was a tenured Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Missouri Medical Center and served as Director of Noninvasive Laboratories and Chief of the Cardiology Section at the Harry S. Truman VA Hospital in Columbia Missouri.Dr. Ahmad is the Edward D. and Sally M. Futch Endowed Professor in Cardiology. He is also the Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory. Dr. Ahmad's research interests are in noninvasive Cardiovascular imaging and he has expertise in 3D echocardiography. Dr Ahmad is a board member of the Houston Chapter of the American Society of Echocardiography. At the national level, Dr Ahmad serves on the FASE committee of the American Society of Echocardiography. In addition, Dr Ahmad serves on the editorial board of Echocardiography, a journal of Cardiovascular ultrasound and Allied techniques.

Education

Contributions to Science  Research interests are in noninvasive cardiovascular imaging, highlighted below.

Tc-99m Pyrophosphate Myocardial Imaging:

 Published pioneering clinical research in Tc-99m pyrophosphate myocardial imaging in patients with ischemic heart disease. Demonstrated for the first time that in addition to acute myocardial infarction, Tc-99m PYP localizes in left ventricular aneurysms. These findings introduced caution in diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction by this imaging technique.  Demonstrated the prognostic value of Tc-99m PYP myocardial uptake in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Doughnut pattern PYP imaging identified patients with large myocardial infarction and poor prognosis.

1. Ahmad, M.; Dubiel, J.P.; Verdon, T.A.; Martin, R.H. Technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate myocardial imaging in patients with and without left ventricular aneurysm. Circulation 53:833-838, l976.

2. Ahmad, M.; Dubiel, J.P.; Logan, K.W.; Verdon, T.A.; Martin, R.H. Limited diagnostic specificity of technetium-99m stannous pyrophosphate myocardial imaging in patients with acute myocardial infarction. Am. J. Cardiol. 39:50-54, l977.

3. Ahmad, M.; Specificity and sensitivity of Tc-99m pyrophosphate myocardial imaging in acute myocardial infarction. Am. J. Cardiol. 41:349-350, l978.

4. Ahmad, M.; Logan, K.W.; Martin, R.H. The doughnut pattern of Tc-99m pyrophosphate myocardial uptake in patients with acute myocardial infarction: A sign of poor long term prognosis. Am. J. Cardiol. 44:13-17, l979.

3D Stress Echocardiography:

 Pioneered the technique of 3-dimensional stress echocardiography at UTMB for the first time, and published the results in its use for detection of ischemia in patients with coronary artery disease. 3D stress echo provided rapid acquisition of stress-induced ischemia simultaneously in multiple views, thus enhancing the sensitivity of this test in detecting coronary artery disease.

1. Ahmad, M.; Xie, T, McCulloch, M., Abreo, G.; Runge, M.; Real time 3-D dobutamine stress echocardiography in assessment of ischemia: comparison with two-dimensional dobutamine stress echocardiography. Journal of American College of Cardiology. 37(5):1303-9,2001

2. Ahmad, M., Real Time 3 Dimensional Echocardiography; Current Status and Future Directions, Echocardiography 29:64-65, 2012.

3. Abu Said, G., Ahmad, M. Real Time Three-Dimensional Stress Echocardiography, Current Status, Echocardiography, 29:200-6, 2012

4. Berbarie, R, Dib, E, Ahmad, M. Stress Echocardiography using real-time 3-dimensional imaging. Echocardiography 35 (8) 1196-1203, 2018

Point of Care Echocardiography:

Reported early on that point of care echocardiography is efficacious in assessment of patients with cardiovascular disease. The findings by a handheld echo scanner were comparable to those obtained by a large commercial echo scanner and surpassed the clinical assessment by physical examination alone. Since that original report, the use of point of care echo has proliferated and is now widely used for evaluation of patients with cardiovascular disease by intensivists, ED physicians and cardiovascular specialists.

1. Xie, T, Chamoun, A, McCulluch, M, Tsiouris, N, Birnbaum, Y, Ahmad, M, Rapid Screening of Cardiac patients with a miniaturized Hand held ultrasound Imager – Comparisons with Physical Examination and Conventional 2-D Echocardiography, Clinical Cardiology, 27, 241-245 2004

Contrast Echocardiography:

Contrast echocardiography has revolutionized the use of echocardiography in evaluation of left ventricular function at baseline and during stress. Participated in all important clinical trials in contrast echo at UTMB resulting in seminal publications on this topic.These trials established the enhanced accuracy and safety of this technique in evaluation of left ventricular function.

1. Senior, R, Monahan, M, Maur, M, Klein, A, Ahmad, M, et al., Detection of Coronary artery disease with perfusion stress echocardiography using a novel ultrasound imaging agent: two phase 3 interventional trials in comparison with radionuclide perfusion imaging, European Journal of Echocardiography, 10, 1, 26-35, Jan 2009

2. Wei, K, Main, M., Lang R., Klein A. ,Angeli S., Panetta C., Mikati I., Lee, V., Ahmad, M., The effect of Definity on Systemic and Pulmonary Hemodynamics in Patients, JASE, :584-588, 2012

3. Weiss, RJ, Ahmad, M., et al, Contrast Echocardiography Registry for Safety Surveillance, A Prospective Multicenter Study to Evaluate the Safety of the Ultrasound Contrast Agent Definity in Clinical Practice, JASE 25: 790-795, 2012

High-Definition Left Ventricular Blood Pool Imaging:

High-definition blood pool imaging is a Doppler-based technique. At UTMB,the echo group under Dr. Ahmad was the first to apply this technique in evaluation of left ventricular function. UTMB lab was selected as one of the top five innovators of new technology in echocardiography at the American Society of Echocardiography national meeting in 2017. The results of the clinical experience demonstrating the efficacy of this technique in evaluating left ventricular function were published. 

1. Wu, G., Xie, T., Dimaano, M., Alghrouz, M., Ahmad, M. High-Definition blood flow imaging in the assessment of left ventricular function: initial experience and comparison with contrast echocardiography. Echocardiography 36 (3) 546-557, 2019

For a full list of publications, please go to https://researchexperts.utmb.edu/en/persons/masood-ahmad/fingerprints/.