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
Publications

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. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.994431

ASE Advocacy — A Long-term Commitment
Little, SH 2022, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 35, no. 8, pp. A11-A12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2022.06.003

Three-dimensional printing, holograms, computational modelling, and artificial intelligence for adult congenital heart disease care: an exciting future
Chessa, M, Van De Bruaene, A, Farooqi, K, Valverde, I, Jung, C, Votta, E, Sturla, F, Diller, GP, Brida, M, Sun, Z, Little, SH & Gatzoulis, MA 2022, , European heart journal, vol. 43, no. 28, pp. 2672-2684. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurheartj/ehac266

ASE – Home for All Cardiovascular Ultrasound Users
Little, SH 2022, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 35, no. 7, pp. A19-A20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2022.05.004

Hemodynamic Determinants of Left Atrial Strain in Symptomatic Patients With Significant Primary Mitral Regurgitation
Pournazari, P, Faza, NN, Goel, SS, Islam, MU, Little, SH & Nagueh, SF 2022, , Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. e013836. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCIMAGING.121.013836

Recommended Standards for the Performance of Transesophageal Echocardiographic Screening for Structural Heart Intervention: From the American Society of Echocardiography
Hahn, RT, Saric, M, Faletra, FF, Garg, R, Gillam, LD, Horton, K, Khalique, OK, Little, SH, Mackensen, GB, Oh, J, Quader, N, Safi, L, Scalia, GM & Lang, RM 2022, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 35, no. 1, pp. 1-76. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2021.07.006

Development of 3D Printed Mitral Valve Constructs for Transcatheter Device Modeling of Tissue and Device Deformation
Vukicevic, M, Mehta, SM, Grande-Allen, KJ & Little, SH 2022, , Annals of Biomedical Engineering, vol. 50, no. 4, pp. 426-439. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-022-02927-y

Tricuspid Regurgitation Related Mortality in United States, 1999-2019
Ahmed, T, Khan, SU, Lone, AN, Saleh, Y, Aoun, J, Arshad, HB, Faza, NN, Little, SH & Goel, S 2022, , Current Problems in Cardiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpcardiol.2022.101205

Transcatheter mitral valve repair for primary mitral regurgitation
Attar, RH, Little, SH & Faza, NN 2022, , Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol. 23, no. 4, 116. https://doi.org/10.31083/j.rcm2304116

Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Cardiovascular Training and Education
Faza, NN & Little, SH 2022, , Methodist DeBakey cardiovascular journal, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 1-3. https://doi.org/10.14797/mdcvj.1127

The Pandemic and Beyond: Innovation in Cardiovascular Training to Improve Quality of Education and Trainees' Well-being
Ali, HJR, Little, SH & Faza, NN 2022, , Methodist DeBakey cardiovascular journal, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 78-86. https://doi.org/10.14797/mdcvj.1107

Prosthetic Aortic Valve Thrombosis
Pournazari, P, Chang, SM, Little, SH, Goel, S & Faza, NN 2022, , US Cardiology Review, vol. 16, e17. https://doi.org/10.15420/usc.2021.19

A High Fidelity and High Frequency Physical Simulator for Mitral Annulus Kinematics
Secord, TW, Vukicevic, M, Gaulke, CJ, Eldredge, CL, Westman, EI, Coyne, KA, Winkoski, DJ & Little, SH 2022, , IEEE Transactions on Medical Robotics and Bionics, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 708-719. https://doi.org/10.1109/TMRB.2022.3193425

Tough Crossing: A Challenging Case of Valve-in-Valve Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Replacement
Gupta, T, Lin, CH, Kleiman, NS, Faza, NN, Wyler C von Ballmoos, M, Little, SH, Reardon, MJ & Goel, SS 2023, , Structural Heart, vol. 7, no. 1, 100105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shj.2022.100105

Incidence and standardised definitions of mitral valve leaflet adverse events after transcatheter mitral valve repair: The EXPAND study
Asch, FM, Little, SH, Mackensen, GB, Grayburn, PA, Sorajja, P, Rinaldi, M, Maisano, F & Kar, S 2021, , EuroIntervention, vol. 17, no. 11, pp. E932-E941. https://doi.org/10.4244/EIJ-D-21-00012

Is it Time to Formalize Training for Interventional Echocardiography and Imaging for Structural Heart Disease Procedures?
Quader, N, Hahn, RT, Saric, M & Little, S 2021, , Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography, vol. 34, no. 10, pp. A11-A12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.echo.2021.08.007

Considering the Hazards of Aortic Valve Stenosis: Look Beyond the Valve
Little, SH & OGara, PT 2021, , JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, vol. 14, no. 9, pp. 1738-1741. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2021.05.027

Patient-specific preprocedural planning for tricuspid valve repair and replacement procedures
Vukicevic, M, Faza, NN & Little, SH 2021, , Current Opinion in Cardiology, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 495-504. https://doi.org/10.1097/HCO.0000000000000900

Computed Tomography–Derived 3D Modeling to Guide Sizing and Planning of Transcatheter Mitral Valve Interventions
Ooms, JF, Wang, DD, Rajani, R, Redwood, S, Little, SH, Chuang, ML, Popma, JJ, Dahle, G, Pfeiffer, M, Kanda, B, Minet, M, Hirsch, A, Budde, RP, De Jaegere, PP, Prendergast, B, ONeill, W & Van Mieghem, NM 2021, , JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 1644-1658. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2020.12.034

Reply: Management of Coronary Embolism in a Patient With Aortic Mechanical Prosthetic Heart Valve Thrombosis
Aoun, J & Little, SH 2021, , JACC: Case Reports, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 169-170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccas.2020.11.023