Stephen H. Little, MD, FRCPC, FACC, FASE

John S. Dunn Chair in Clinical Cardiovascular Research and Education, DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center
Professor of Cardiology, Academic Institute
Full Member, Research Institute
Program Director, Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship, Department of Cardiology
Houston Methodist
Weill Cornell Medical College


Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship


Biography

Dr. Little is a cardiologist with the Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center and program director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship. In addition, he is director of Structural Heart for the Houston Methodist Hospital System, and medical director of the Valve Clinic. He also serves as director of the Cardiovascular Hemodynamics Imaging Laboratory (CHIL).

After completing sub-specialty Cardiology training at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeon of Canada, Dr. Little completed a postdoctoral fellowship in echocardiography at the Ottawa Heart Institute. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship, under the supervision of Dr. W. Zoghbi at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.  In 2007 he was recruited back to Houston to join the Cardiovascular Imaging Institute of Houston Methodist DeBakey Heart & Vascular Center.

He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the American College of Cardiology, and the American Society of Echocardiography. For the American Society of Echocardiography, Dr. Little served on the Board of Directors, was chair of the guidelines committee, and is currently serving as President, American Society of Echocardiography

Dr. Little has given more than 150 invited lectures nationally and internationally. He is a Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and Adjunct Professor at Rice University, Dept. of Bioengineering.

Description of Research

Dr. Little’s recent research activities and peer-reviewed publications have focused on novel use of 3D echocardiography for the quantification of native and prosthetic valve dysfunction as well as imaging guidance for percutaneous structural heart interventions. His team has created a robust in vitro flow system for multimodality functional valve imaging under tailored hemodynamic conditions.

As principal investigator, Dr. Little leads Houston Methodists participation in the international Triluminate Clinical Trial of catheter-based therapy for tricuspid valve regurgitation and participates as a co-investigator in multiple other structural heart trials at Houston Methodist.

Areas Of Expertise

Echocardiography Valvular disease Mitral regurgitation
Education & Training

Clinical Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine
Residency, Western University
MD, McMaster University School of Medicine
Active Clinical Trials

TRILUMINATE Pivotal Trial

NCT03904147

Publications

Echocardiographic Profiling Predicts Clinical Outcomes After Mitral Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair
Hatab, T, Samimi, S, Bou Chaaya, RG, Qamar, F, Kharsa, C, Wessly, P, Faza, N, Little, SH, Atkins, MD, Reardon, MJ, Kleiman, N, Zoghbi, WA, Nagueh, SF, Zaid, S & Goel, S 2024, , Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. e032784. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.032784

Characteristics and Outcomes of Patients Ineligible for Tricuspid Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair
Hatab, T, Bou Chaaya, RG, Samimi, S, Qamar, F, Faza, N, Little, SH, Reardon, MJ, Kleiman, N, Zoghbi, WA, Guha, A, Zaid, S & Goel, S 2024, , Structural Heart, vol. 8, no. 2, 100235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shj.2023.100235

Guidelines for the Evaluation of Prosthetic Valve Function With Cardiovascular Imaging: A Report From the American Society of Echocardiography Developed in Collaboration With the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
Zoghbi, WA, Jone, PN, Chamsi-Pasha, MA, Chen, T, Collins, KA, Desai, MY, Grayburn, P, Groves, DW, Hahn, RT, Little, SH, Kruse, E, Sanborn, D, Shah, SB, Sugeng, L, Swaminathan, M, Thaden, J, Thavendiranathan, P, Tsang, W, Weir-McCall, JR & Gill, E 2024, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 2-63. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.10.004

Feasibility and Safety of Intracardiac Echocardiography Guidance in Mitral Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair: Analysis of the National Inpatient Sample Data From 2015 to 2020
Hashem, A, Khalouf, A, Agrawal, A, Mohamad, MS, Nayfeh, T, Kashou, A, Chaaya, RGB, Rai, D, Verghese, B, Little, SH, Goldsweig, A, Naidu, S & Goel, SS 2024, , Current Problems in Cardiology, vol. 49, no. 1 Pt A, 102042, pp. 102042. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2023.102042

Feasibility and Outcomes of Mitral Transcatheter Edge-To-Edge Repair in Patients With Variable Degrees of Mitral Annular Calcification
Hatab, T, Bou Chaaya, RG, Zaid, S, Wessly, P, Satish, P, Villanueva, V, Faza, N, Little, SH, Atkins, MD, Reardon, MJ, Kleiman, NS, Zoghbi, WA & Goel, SS 2023, , Journal of the American Heart Association, vol. 12, no. 19, e031118, pp. e031118. https://doi.org/10.1161/JAHA.123.031118

TAV-in-TAV in Failed Homograft: Redo TAVI in a Patient With 3 Previous Sternotomies
Hatab, T, Zaid, S, Wessly, P, Reardon, MJ, Atkins, MD, Faza, N, Little, SH, Kleiman, NS & Goel, SS 2023, , JACC: Case Reports, vol. 22, 101973, pp. 101973. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101973

Now You See Me Now You Don't: Subaortic Membrane Causing a Diagnostic Dilemma
Hatab, T, Zaid, S, Toro, S, Wessly, P, Malahfji, M, Faza, N, Little, SH, Kleiman, NS, Reardon, MJ & Goel, SS 2023, , JACC: Case Reports, vol. 18, 101916, pp. 101916. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101916

The (Heart and) Soul of a Human Creation: Designing Echocardiography for the Big Data Age
Arnaout, R, Hahn, RT, Hung, JW, Jone, PN, Lester, SJ, Little, SH, Mackensen, GB, Rigolin, V, Sachdev, V, Saric, M, Sengupta, PP, Strom, JB, Taub, CC, Thamman, R & Abraham, T 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 7, pp. 800-801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.04.016

When Echocardiography Is Challenging in Localizing Bioprosthetic Aortic Regurgitation: Dye Don't Lie
Hatab, T, Wessly, P, Zaid, S, Faza, N, Chang, SM, Kleiman, NS, Little, SH & Goel, SS 2023, , JACC: Case Reports, vol. 15, 101853, pp. 101853. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2023.101853

Reflection, Preparation, and Gratitude
Little, SH 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. A9-A10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.04.006

Impact of aortic valve replacement in symptomatic low-risk patients with less than severe aortic stenosis
Ito, S, Laham, R, Nkomo, VT, Forrest, JK, Reardon, MJ, Little, SH, Mumtaz, M, Gada, H, Bajwa, T, Langholz, D, Heiser, J, Chawla, A, Jenson, B, Attizanni, G, Markowitz, AH, Huang, J & Oh, JK 2023, , Open Heart, vol. 10, no. 1, e002297. https://doi.org/10.1136/openhrt-2023-002297

The House of Cardiology
Little, SH 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. A11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.03.003

Interventional Echocardiography: The Emergence of a New Imaging Specialty
Little, SH 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. A13-A14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.02.003

Recommendations for Special Competency in Echocardiographic Guidance of Structural Heart Disease Interventions: From the American Society of Echocardiography
Little, SH, Rigolin, VH, Garcia-Sayan, E, Hahn, RT, Hung, J, Mackensen, GB, Mankad, S, Quader, N & Saric, M 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 350-365. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.01.014

Sonographer Challenges Today
Collins, K & Little, SH 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. A7-A8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2023.01.008

Patient-specific, echocardiography compatible flow loop model of aortic valve regurgitation in the setting of a mechanical assist device
Kassi, M, Filippini, S, Avenatti, E, Xu, S, El-Tallawi, KC, Angulo, CI, Vukicevic, M & Little, SH 2023, , Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 10, 994431, pp. 994431. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.994431

Structural Valve Deterioration After Self-Expanding Transcatheter or Surgical Aortic Valve Implantation in Patients at Intermediate or High Risk
OHair, D, Yakubov, SJ, Grubb, KJ, Oh, JK, Ito, S, Deeb, GM, Van Mieghem, NM, Adams, DH, Bajwa, T, Kleiman, NS, Chetcuti, S, Søndergaard, L, Gada, H, Mumtaz, M, Heiser, J, Merhi, WM, Petrossian, G, Robinson, N, Tang, GHL, Rovin, JD, Little, SH, Jain, R, Verdoliva, S, Hanson, T, Li, S, Popma, JJ & Reardon, MJ 2023, , JAMA Cardiology, vol. 8, no. 2, pp. 111-119. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamacardio.2022.4627

Structural Heart Imaging Survey Highlights: Training, Challenges, and Practice Patterns in Interventional Imaging
Lee, JC, Geske, JB, Narang, A, Khalique, OK, Choi, AD, Sun, YP, Cavalcante, JL, Pinto, DS, Gafoor, SA, Jagasia, DH, DiCarli, MF, Villines, TC, Little, SH, Hahn, RT & Wang, DD 2023, , JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 255-258. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2022.09.003

The ASEF: “Together, We Can Make a World of Difference!”
Kirkpatrick, JN & Little, SH 2023, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. A13-A14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2022.12.005

An Updated Meta-Analysis on Cerebral Embolic Protection in Patients Undergoing Transcatheter Aortic Valve Intervention Stratified by Baseline Surgical Risk and Device Type
Khan, SU, Zahid, S, Alkhouli, MA, Akbar, UA, Zaid, S, Arshad, HB, Little, SH, Reardon, MJ, Kleiman, NS & Goel, SS 2023, , Structural Heart, vol. 7, no. 4, 100178, pp. 100178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shj.2023.100178