Massachusetts General Hospital

Biography

Dr. Ami B. Bhatt is Co-Director of the Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Bhatt trained in internal medicine, pediatrics, adult cardiology and adult congenital heart disease. She divides her time between inpatient and outpatient care of adolescents and adults with CHD, medical student, resident and fellow teaching, and research in ACHD. The Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program at the MGH Heart Center is one of the oldest programs in the country and dedicated to personal and individualized care for the adolescent and adult with congenital heart disease.

Dr. Bhatt completed her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, her doctoral degree from Yale School of Medicine and trained at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital of Boston and the MGH for residency and fellowship. She is committed to the integration of teaching and innovative research in ACHD, increasing awareness and expanding knowledge of this rapidly growing population and training highly skilled clinicians and researchers in ACHD.

She is dedicated to patient advocacy groups through the American Heart Association and participates in local efforts dedicated to empowering today's adolescents and young adults with CHD to lead full and productive lives.

The MGH ACHD program works closely with other sections of the Heart and Vascular Centers as well as OB/Gyn, Genetics and Pediatrics.  Dr. Bhatt sees patients who are contemplating pregnancy or already pregnant for one time consultations as well as pregnancy management, labor/delivery with OB, and postpartum care.

The MGH ACHD program has twice monthly multidisciplinary case reviews, led by Dr. Bhatt and Dr. Defaria.  The group is happy to provide one time consultations to patients who have established pediatric or adult cardiologists, and Dr. Bhatt accepts new patients regularly as well.

ResearchDr. Bhatt's research interests focus on adults with congenital heart disease.

Publications

1. Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: Current Considerations and Expectations: A JACC White Paper. 2011
2. Clinician perceptions of transition of patients with pediatric-onset chronic disease to adult medical care. IJCAH 2012
3. Pathophysiology of chronic venous insufficiency in adults with a Fontan circulation IJC 2011
4. The CALF (Congenital Heart Disease in Adults Lower Extremity Systemic Venous Health in Fontan Patients) study. JACC 2010
5. Current strategies for the prevention of angina in patients with stable coronary artery disease. Current Opinion in Cardiology 2006.
6. Cardiac Issues in Adolescence. MGHfC Adolescent Medicine Handbook. 2010.
7. Atrial Septal Defects. CARDIOLOGY. 2009.
8. Hemodynamic Monitoring in Heart Failure. Device Therapy in Heart Failure, 2009.
9. Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis. MGH Cardiovascular Images 2011
10. Mapping of Veno-venous and Veno-arterial collaterals with a Dual Source Cardiac CT in a patient with a Fontan.

Congenital heart patient champions women’s heart health

Debby Flaherty-Kizer has been living with Ebstein’s anomaly for more than 30 years, but that hasn’t prevented her from participating in triathlons and advocating for women’s heart health across the country.

Sisters with congenital heart disease don’t miss a beat

As infants, Madelyn and Samantha Kanter were diagnosed with atrial septal defect. Following intervention as teens, they came to the Mass General Heart Center to keep them healthy through their adult lives.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease & Heart Surgery

Over one million adults in the United States have adult congenital heart disease (ACHD), a condition that occurs when the heart or related blood vessels do not develop properly before or at birth.

Adult Congenital Heart Disease & Heart Surgery Recovery Process

For some adult congenital heart disease patients, heart surgery is needed. Patients often have questions about their condition, what the admission process is like, what to anticipate on the day of surgery and ask about expectations for their recovery process.