David L. Hayes, MD

Dr. Hayes, from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, has authored a number of medical publications, including a book entitled Cardiac Pacing and Defibrillation: A Clinical Approach. He served as NASPE President from 1999-2000, and joined our editorial board in 2001. Since then, Dr. Hayes has remained an active participant in the electrophysiology community. Read below about his current projects.

Please describe your medical background and education (including undergraduate, graduate and residency).
I attended a six-year BA, MD program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Following this, my internal medicine residency and cardiology fellowship were completed at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with the exception of a third year of cardiology completed in New York. The year was split between six months of nuclear cardiology training at Cornell/New York Hospital and the other six months spent at Montefiore in the Bronx with Dr. Sy Furman, doing cardiac pacing.

What did you find was the most difficult challenge during your education?
The largest challenge was trying to decide what aspect of cardiology would interest me the most. There were many areas that would potentially be interesting, but relatively early in my cardiology experience I decided that device management would be the area that I would enjoy the most.

What are your areas of specialty in EP?
My specialty is implantable devices, including pacemakers, ICDs and cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT).

Have you received any special awards?
In 1988, I was the first recipient of the E. Grey Diamond “Take-Wing Award” at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine. In 1991, I was awarded the Alumnus of the Year at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

What are you doing to further your education?
At this point, I am not doing anything formal in medical education other than the usual continuing medical education. Within CME, however, most of my time is spent in courses that I am involved with regarding cardiac pacing or other implantable devices. I would be interested in pursing an area outside of medicine in the future, but at this point in time, I am uncertain which area that would be.

What has been your most rewarding experience in practicing medicine as of yet?
The most rewarding experience continues to be the clinical care of patients. I enjoy patient interaction and would not want to give up this aspect of medicine at any time. However, from an administrative standpoint, being President of NASPE (1998–1999) was a very rewarding experience. It was an opportunity to get to know many people throughout the pacing and electrophysiology world.

How do you feel about the ever-changing environment in electrophysiology? What technology and/or procedures do you find most promising?
It is unlikely that the evolution of technology in pacing and electrophysiology will slow at any time in the future. If anything, it will simply continue to gain momentum. At the present time, I find CRT and the evolution of this discipline the most promising and most rewarding, and I believe there will be adjunctive types of stimulation that will be in clinical use for patients with heart failure and associated cardiac abnormalities.

Is your lab involved in any clinical trials?
We are involved in clinical trials at all times. We see this as an important method of keeping our EP and pacing practice invigorated.

What are some of your future goals in EP?
My future goals include gaining a greater expertise in cardiac resynchronization therapy and associated stimulation techniques.

What can we expect in the future regarding ICD system longevity and reliability?
I think the ICDs available are already quite reliable. Longevity will most likely continue to improve. However, I suspect that within five years, we will be looking at ICD systems that are completely different than what we are used to today.

What is the best method for reducing radiation exposure in patients during biventricular pacing procedures?
I believe that people need to set some limitations on how long they will persist in trying implant a CRT device. We know that there are other approaches, i.e. epicardial, that can be used. I think that the issue of radiation exposure will become less of an issue as experience is gained and as the tools improve.