Greeter: Pat Knowles & JR Kammandel Speaker: Dr. Jon Cramer
Dr. John Cramer
Director, Midwest & Omaha Congenital Heart and Aortopathy (MOCHA) Program at Children's Hospital Medical Center and University of Nebraska Medical Center
Presentation Topic: Dr. Cramer will discuss what is currently being done for adult patients with Congenital Heart Disease right here in Omaha as well as what you can do to help.
Congenital heart disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect worldwide, affecting roughly 1-2% of the population. To put that in perspective, that is more than 50x the incidence of childhood cancer! Prior to 1960, CHD was also the leading cause of congenitally acquired pediatric deaths. It was rare for children with even moderate forms of CHD to survive into adolescence, and in many cases, adulthood survival was almost never seen. However, in the 1950-60s, visionaries like Dr. Helen Taussig, Dr. Alfred Blaylock, and Vivian Thomas revolutionized the medical world by demonstrating the cause of one of the most common forms of CHD (TOF), envisioning a surgical palliation, and then executing the repair. Since that time, the diagnosis and treatment of children with congenital heart disease have experienced tremendous growth and unprecedented success. Today, most CHD centers of excellence experience nearly a 95% childhood survival for all forms of CHD, and >75% for the most severe forms of CHD. This success has created an avalanche of adult patients with palliated CHD that currently outnumber children with CHD. National heart organizations across the world have struggled to keep up with the new population of patients and provide them with the most up to date and current therapies. Omaha is unique in that it has a national center of excellence for adult CHD that is helping lead the way in the care for these complex adult patients. Dr. Cramer directs the Midwest & Omaha Congenital Heart and Aortopathy (MOCHA) Program at Children's Hospital & Medical Center as well as University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Bio: Jonathan Cramer is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He is the Director of the Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program for Children’s Hospital & Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine. A native Nebraskan, Dr. Cramer received his medical degree from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. He then completed a dual residency in Internal Medicine & Pediatrics at the University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky and completed fellowships in both Pediatric Cardiology as well as Adult Congenital Heart Disease at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Last week at Rotary, the meeting was canceled due to unsafe driving conditions. However, by noon the driving conditions improved for some Rotarians to meet up at Jericho's restaurant. The unofficial meeting was presided by Past President Dick Sturgeon. Since there was no set agenda, the discussion ranged from classic cars led by Mike Shrier, the best steak restaurant in town led by Bill Sutton, and Matt McKeever revisited how then-Secretary Dick Sturgeon fined him a whopping $20.00 14 years ago. We did discuss the possibility of West Rotary sponsoring Interact Clubs in area high schools given our strong connection with these high schools. Since Nov. 9th was Matt McKeever's birthday, we officially greeted Matt a happy birthday. The unofficial meeting was adjourned at 1:28 PM, which may never happen at a real West Rotary meeting.
L to R: Matt McKeever, Dick Sturgeon, Bill Sutton, Mike Shrier, & Yolanda Hoffman
To find out about speakers at other Rotary Clubs in the area, you can conveniently see the list of Club websites here. Then click on the home icon to the left of the club name. The list of speakers are listed on their Homepage.
