Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Jag Singh, MD, PhD, is Director of the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Program and a staff cardiac electrophysiologist in the Cardiac Arrhythmia Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center. Dr. Singh received his medical degree from BJ Medical College, Pune University, India. He completed his internal medicine residency, and cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology fellowships at Mass General. He also earned a doctorate from Oxford University, a master of science in clinical investigation from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and completed a research fellowship at the Framingham Heart Study. He is currently an associate professor of medicine at Mass General.

Dr. Singh's research interests are in clinical cardiac electrophysiology, with an emphasis on device therapy for heart failure and catheter ablation of atrial fibrillation. His investigative work has focused on improving patient selection strategies, multimodality imaging, lead implantation techniques and follow-up protocols for patients receiving device therapy. He is also engaged in innovative work in the field of catheter ablation. Dr. Singh a principal investigator and also a member of steering committees for single and multicenter research studies. He also directs the coronary venous angiography core laboratory for several multicenter research studies. Dr. Singh is on the editorial board of medical journals and is a reviewer for cardiology journals. Dr. Singh is an internationally recognized speaker and frequently gives lectures at national and international educational forums. Dr. Singh has over a 150 publications inclusive of original research articles, clinical communications, text book chapters, review articles and editorials.

Research

• Risk stratification for sudden cardiac death and worsening heart failure. Dr. Singh has done extensive work with the Framingham Heart Study and the MADIT Study group and published several landmark manuscripts.

• Patient selection and predicting response to cardiac resynchronization therapy. Dr. Singh has developed and built a new multidisciplinary program at Massachusetts General Hospital to care for patients with heart failure and implanted devices. His research work has led to the development of a novel response score to predict clinical outcome in this patient group.

• Coronary venous anatomy and novel ventricular lead implantation strategies. Dr. Singh has used novel rotational venography and imaging techniques to propose and substantiate new coronary venous anatomy classification and redefine the best views for lead implantation. Dr. Singh published on the importance of left ventricular lead position and developed new implantation protocols, some of which are being tested prospectively in clinical studies.

• Image integration strategies and multimodality imaging for cardiac resynchronization therapy. Dr. Singh has done some novel work integrating computed tomography, ultrasound and fluoroscopy to create better clinical strategies to facilitate device implantation.

• Device diagnostics and remote monitoring in heart failure patients. Dr. Singh's recent work has focused on the use of remote monitoring and device diagnostics to prognosticate and manage patients.

• Newer drugs and catheter ablation strategies of atrial fibrillation. Dr. Singh is actively engaged in research examining newer drug therapies for atrial fibrillation. His research interests also examine novel approaches to enhance patient selection, imaging and ablative techniques for treating atrial fibrillation.

Publications

View my most recent publications at PubMed

Singh JP et al. Abnormal rate adaptation of the QT interval is associated with hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy. J Am Coll Cardiol 1997;29:778.

Singh JP et al. Heritability of heart rate variability: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation, 1999;99: 2251.

Singh JP et al. Factors influencing appropriate firing of the implanted defibrillator for ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation: findings from MADIT II. J Am Coll Cardiol 2005 46:1712.

Singh JP et al. Coronary venous anatomy: a segmental approach to aid cardiac resynchronisation therapy. J Am Coll Cardiol . 2005;46:68.

Heist EK et al, Singh JP. Usefulness of a Novel Response Score to Predict Hemodynamic and Clinical Outcome from Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy. Am J Cardiol. 2006;97:1732-6.

Singh JP, et al. Left ventricular lead electrical delay predicts response to cardiac resynchronization therapy Heart Rhythm. 2006;3:1285.

Tournoux F et al, Singh JP. Echocardiographic Measures of Acute Hemodynamic Response after Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Predict Long-term Clinical Outcome. European Heart Journal, 2007;28:1143.

Singh JP. Electrical Therapy for Advanced Heart Failure: Is it Time for a Multidisciplinary Approach or a New Subspecialty? Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther. 2007;5:811.

Singh JP et al. Patient selection and classification for atrial fibrillation ablation: Thinking beyond duration. 2009;6:1522.

Upadhyay G et al, Singh JP. Cardiac Resynchronization in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation: a Meta-analysis of Prospective Cohort Studies. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;52:1239.

A strongman's second chance

In 2008, the Massachusetts General Hospital Transplant Center completed the most heart transplants in the region. Personal trainer and strongman competitor, Jim Murphy, is one shining example of the great successes of the program.

Monitoring patients remotely

New wireless technology allows Heart Center clinicians to keep tabs on heart failure patients wherever they are

At home heart failure care

A new clinical trial at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center gives patients the power to monitor their hearts and change their medication dosing daily to prevent the symptoms of heart failure.

At-home heart care

MGH Hotline 07.24.09 Doctors at the MGH Heart Center have implanted the first patient with a new device they hope will reduce hospitalizations for heart failure.

New heart monitoring device may prevent hospitalizations, empower patients with heart failure

It’s estimated that more than 5 million Americans are affected by heart failure—a condition characterized by the slow, progressive deterioration of the heart’s pumping ability. The syndrome occurs when the ventricles become too weak to pump sufficient blood to the body or when the ventricles become stiff, hindering blood from filling the heart. Often, heart failure is accompanied by a buildup of fluid pressure in the pulmonary blood vessels.

Treating Heart Failure in the 21st Century

February is American Heart Month, and the spotlight is on heart health. Throughout this month, we will be featuring articles including discussions with physicians in the Massachusetts General Heart Center to learn more about the topics surrounding heart disease, the leading cause of death in the U.S. for both men and women.

Improved Clinical Outcomes for CRT Patients

Jagmeet Singh, MD, Director of the Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital Heart Center, discusses his team’s recent study about multidisciplinary care (MC) versus conventional care (CC) in CRT (cardiac resynchronization therapy) patients.

Mass. General Patient First in New England to Receive Nerve Stimulator to Treat Heart Failure

Anita Levy, 59, arrived at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2012 with severe heart failure. The mother of four, grandmother of eight and wife of 38 years, was starting to lose hope. After trying a number of therapies without success, her doctors informed her she was a candidate for a new clinical trial.

Integrated Care for Better Outcomes: The Multidisciplinary Resynchronization Therapy Program

New research from the CRT Program within the Institute for Heart, Vascular, and Stroke Care at Massachusetts General Hospital shows that providing multidisciplinary integrated CRT care improves patient outcomes.

Innovating, Translating and Integrating Care in Clinical Electrophysiology

Experts from the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for Heart, Vascular and Stroke Care present insights and opinions on methods for treating refractory heart failure, genetically determined arrhythmias and atrial fibrillation in an integrated, multispecialty program.