Cleveland Clinic Caring for the Young Adult Heart 2026

Caring for Young Adults with Heart Disease
MAY 15-16, 2026
Hear from Activity Directors, Drs. Milind Desai and Christine Jellis
Young adults living with congenital or inherited heart conditions represent a uniquely vulnerable population—too often overlooked in traditional medical training. While advances in cardiovascular medicine have transformed care for children and older adults, a critical gap persists in addressing the complex needs of patients transitioning into and navigating young adulthood.
Our specialized curriculum bridges this void, equipping clinicians with the knowledge and skills to deliver truly comprehensive, patient-centered care. Through focused modules on congenital differentiation, syndrome-specific risk assessment, genetic counseling, lifestyle management, and advanced therapeutic strategies, participants gain the expertise to recognize subtle clinical presentations, tailor management plans, and support lifelong health outcomes.
Who Should Attend?
The course is directed toward physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and all healthcare providers with an interest in treating and managing young adult patients with heart disease.
After completing this course, participants will be able to:

Discuss the clinical profile of young adult heart patients and differentiate between their inherited simple and complex congenital heart disease conditions.
Describe the anomalies associated with cardiomyopathies and diseases of the vascular, coronary, and valvular systems.
Examine the clinical characteristics of young adult heart patients with connective tissue disorders, and differentiate between the cardiovascular risks of these disorders, including those presenting in Loeys-Dietz, Marfan, and Ehler-Danlos syndromes.
Identify genetic and familial factors in young adult heart disease patients with their inherent clinical manifestations, evidence-based management of the conditions, and genetic testing and counseling.
Prescribe exercise and sports modifications, provide lifestyle recommendations, and manage pregnancy in the young adult heart patient to optimize lifelong health.
Describe how to utilize medical devices and surgical therapies in the care of young adult heart patients.
Discuss current and novel pharmacological approaches and associated therapeutic strategies to treat young adult heart conditions.
Identify options for electrophysiological interventions to address young adult heart conditions.

+ Topics:

Day One – Friday, May 15, 2026
All times in Central Time

7:00 am

Registration & Continental Breakfast

7:50 am

Welcome & Announcements
Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD; Milind Desai, MD, MBA; Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

Session 1: Adult with Simple Congenital Heart Disease
Moderators: Hani Najm, MD, and Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

8:00 am

Case Presentation
Nandini Mehra, MD

8:05 am

Atrial Septal Defect (ASD): Anatomy, Physiology, and Closure Strategies
Samir Kapadia, MD

8:17 am

Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) and Patent Ductus Arteriosus (PDA): Spectrum, Hemodynamics, and Natural History
Margaret Fuchs, MD

8:29 am

Coarctation of the Aorta: New Diagnosis, Recurrence, Shone’s, and Aneurysms
Vidyasagar Kalahasti, MD

8:41 am

Management of Reoperation of the Aorta
Per Wierup, MD, PhD

8:53 am

Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return (PAPVR): An Overlooked Simple Shunt
Joanna Ghobrial, MD

9:05 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

9:20 am

Break

Session 2: Adult with Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Moderators: Joanna Ghobrial, MD, and Hani Najm, MD

9:40 am

Case Presentation
Nandini Mehra, MD

9:45 am

Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA) and its Variants
Margaret Fuchs, MD

9:57 am

Tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) and Post-Repair Sequelae
Joanna Ghobrial, MD

10:09 am

Single Ventricle Physiology and Sequelae of Fontan Palliation
Margaret Fuchs, MD

10:21 am

Surgical management of Single Ventricle Physiology and Fontan Circulation
Hani Najm, MD

10:33 am

Consider Arrhythmias in Complex Congenital Heart Disease
Peter Aziz, MD

10:45 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

Session 3: Inherited Cardiomyopathies
Moderators: Milind Desai, MD, MBA, and W.H. Wilson Tang, MD

11:00 am

Case Presentation
Susan Keen, MD

11:05 am

Restrictive and Infiltrative Cardiomyopathies: When the Heart Mirrors a Systemic Disease
W.H. Wilson Tang, MD

11:17 am

Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM): From Sarcomere to Sudden Death
Milind Desai, MD, MBA

11:29 am

From Desmosomes to DNA: The Expanding Spectrum of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy / Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM): Genetic Insights and Phenotypic Mimics
W.H. Wilson Tang, MD

11:41 am

Team-based Approach to Medical Genomics and Counselling in Cardiovascular Disease
Krishna Aragam, MD

11:53 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

12:08 pm

Lunch

Session 4: Heritable Thoracic Aortic Disease
Moderators: Krishna Aragam, MD, and Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD

1:05 pm

Case Presentation
Susan Keen, MD

1:10 pm

Marfan Syndrome and Beyond: Phenotypic Spectrum of Fibrillin-Related Aortopathy
Vidyasagar Kalahasti, MD

1:22 pm

The TGF-beta Pathway Disorders: Loeys-Dietz and Overlapping Aortic Syndromes (SMAD3 and related TGF-beta signaling mutations)
Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

1:34 pm

Vascular Ehlers-Danlos and the Collagenopathies: When the Aorta Isn’t the Only Risk
Vidyasagar Kalahasti, MD

1:46 pm

Reconstructing the Fragile Aorta: Surgical Principles in Connective-Tissue Aortopathies
Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD

1:58 pm

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

Session 5: Coronaries and Lipids
Moderator: Samir Kapadia, MD

2:13 pm

Case Presentation
Susan Keen, MD

2:18 pm

Familial hypercholesterolemia: Genetic Insights and Clinical Manifestations, Evidence-based Management
Krishna Aragam, MD

2:30 pm

Anomalous Coronary Artery Disease: Advances in Diagnosis and Risk Assessment
Joanna Ghobrial, MD

2:42 pm

Anomalous Coronary Artery Disease: Intervention / Surgery
Hani Najm, MD

2:54 pm

Precision Cardiology: Integrating Genomics, Imaging and Lipid Management in Heritable Coronary Artery Disorders
Krishna Aragam, MD

3:06 pm

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

3:21 pm

Break

Session 6: Valvular
Moderators: Milind Desai, MD, MBA, and Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD

3:35 pm

Case Presentation
Susan Keen, MD

3:40 pm

Morphologic Spectrum and Clinical Manifestations of Mitral Valve Disease in the Young Adult
Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

3:52 pm

Minimally Invasive Surgical Strategies for Management of Mitral Valve Disease
Per Wierup, MD, PhD

4:04 pm

Bicuspid Aortic Valve Disease: A spectrum of disease from Embryology to the Octogenarian
Milind Desai, MD, MBA

4:16 pm

Intervening on the Bicuspid Aortic Valve: Planning Ahead for a Lifetime of Care
Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD

4:28 pm

Contemporary Strategies for Redo Operations: Balancing Complexity and Durability
Per Wierup, MD, PhD

4:40 pm

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

4:55 pm

Closing Remarks
Lars G. Svensson, MD, PhD; Milind Desai, MD, MBA; Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

5:00 pm

Adjourn to reception

Day Two – Saturday, May 16, 2026
All times in Central Time

7:00 am

Registration & Breakfast

7:55 am

Welcome & Announcements
Milind Desai, MD, MBA and Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

Session 7: Electrophysiology
Moderators: Mandeep Bhargava, MD, and Oussama Wazni, MD

8:00 am

Case Presentation
Mandeep Bhargava, MD

8:05 am

Electrophysiologic Sequelae of Structural Congenital Heart Disease: Mechanisms, Mapping and Device Choices
Peter Aziz, MD

8:17 am

Channelopathies: Genetic Mechanisms, Risk Prediction and Targeted Therapy
Mandeep Bhargava, MD

8:29 am

Stepwise Approach to the Management of Atrial Fibrillation: Integrating Pharmacologic, Catheter-based and Surgical Approaches
Oussama Wazni, MD

8:41 am

Primary Conduction and Arrhythmic Disorders and Device-Related Challenges Across a Lifetime
Mandeep Bhargava, MD

8:53 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

Session 8: Peripartum
Moderators: Margaret Fuchs, MD, and Karlee Hoffman, DO

9:08 am

Case Presentation
Nandini Mehra, MD

9:13 am

Preconception Counselling and Assessment of Women with Inherited and Acquired Cardiac Disease: Risk Assessment and Reproductive Planning
Karlee Hoffman, DO

9:25 am

Cardio-Obstetrics Management of High-Risk Congenital Heart Disease
Margaret Fuchs, MD

9:37 am

Creating a CardioOB team and Delivery Planning for CardioOB patients
Deirdre Mattina, MD

9:49 am

Cardiac Disease in the Peripartum Period: Hemodynamic Challenges and Delivery Planning to Balance Maternal Safety and Fetal Outcomes
Karlee Hoffman, DO

10:01 am

The Postpartum Phase and Beyond: Cardiovascular Recovery and Long-term Follow-up in Women with Heart Disease
Deirdre Mattina, MD

10:25 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

10:40 am

Break

Session 9: Sports and Exercise Recommendations
Moderators: Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA, and Tamanna Singh, MD

11:00 am

Case Presentation
Milind Desai, MD, MBA

11:05 am

Balancing Performance and Safety: Exercise Prescription in Cardiovascular Disease
Tamanna Singh, MD

11:17 am

From Athlete’s Heart to Heart Failure: Recognizing the Spectrum of Exercise-Induced Cardiac Remodeling
Tamanna Singh, MD

11:29 am

Return to Play after Cardiac Arrhythmias / SCD: Contemporary Approaches in Sports Cardiology
Peter Aziz, MD

11:41 am

The Role of Exercise in Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation: Prescribing Movement as Medicine
Tamanna Singh, MD

11:53 am

Panel Discussion and Attendee Q & A

12:10 pm

Closing Remarks
Milind Desai, MD, MBA and Christine Jellis, MD, PhD, MBA

12:15 pm

Adjourn