Division of Cardiovascular Diseases

The Scripps Clinic Medical Group Division of Cardiovascular Diseases provides advanced inpatient and outpatient cardiology care across the spectrum of heart failure, interventional cardiology, electrophysiology, cardio-oncology, cardiac amyloidosis, and integrative cardiology. Our Division combines scientific research, clinical trials, advanced medical technologies and expertise to provide the most forward-thinking cardiac care in Southern California, leading and staffing renowned cardiology programs and clinics. Our accomplished cardiologists offer a variety of diagnostics and monitoring services, and the most complex heart procedures in the country. Our Division is known for providing both high-tech and high touch care, conducting successful procedures with low complication rates and observing the best practices and quality metrics that make the difference in improving outcomes.

With deep, extremely specialized expertise, our cardiologists are leaders in the diagnosis and management of a vast array of common and rare heart conditions. The interventional cardiology program is one of the largest in the country, performing high volume procedures with an emphasis on leading edge, minimally invasive techniques. Our Division also includes world class physician expertise in management of arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, heart failure, heart transplantation, diagnostic imaging, lipid disorders, and women’s health.

Cardiology Subdivisions

Featured Services

  • Complex ablations for atrial fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia and SVT (supra-ventricular tachycardia)

  • Intra-cardiac device implantation (Pacemakers/Defibrillators)

  • Coronary stenting

  • Coronary atherectomy

  • Coronary brachytherapy

  • Supported PCI

  • Peripheral vascular intervention including complex procedures for limb salvage

  • Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)

  • Transcatheter mitral valve repair and replacement

  • Transcatheter tricuspid valve repair

  • Transcatheter pulmonic valve interventions

  • Transcatheter atrial and ventricular septal closure

  • Transcatheter left (and right) ventricular assist devices

  • Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)

  • Transcatheter patent foramen ovale closure Left Atrial appendage Closure

  • Coronary angiogenesis

  • Cardiac gene therapy

  • Surgical and transcatheter mitral, tricuspid, and aortic valve replacement and repair

  • Surgical left and right ventricular assist devices (VADs)

  • Coronary CT angiography

  • Cardiac MRI (Structural, 4D-Flow and T1 mapping)

  • Cardiac 3D – Structural

Recognitions & Awards

  • Scripps Clinic physicians (Drs. Topol and Teirstein) edit the seminal textbook in Interventional Cardiology, now in its 8th edition, as well as editing Interventional Cardiology Clinics (Dr. Price), the quarterly journal read by cardiologists around the world.

  • Dr. Price has is a steering committee for the National Cardiovascular Data Registry for Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (NCDR LAAO), and is two-time recipient of the Scripps Clinic Chairman’s Award for Research in Medicine, most recently in 2018

  • Dr. Schatz is the winner of the Russ Prize for BioMedical Engineering 2019, and was included in the Smithsonian Museum of American History’s “Inventing in America” display

  • Dr. Stinis has been named a Top 10 Cardiologist in San Diego County and received a Patient’s Choice Award from Vitals.com. He has been listed as a Top Doctor by Castle Connolly, a Top Cardiologist by Consumers Research Council of America, and is the recipient of a Next Generation Innovator Award by Cardiology Today.

  • Dr. Teirstein has been listed in San Diego Top Doctors, Best Doctors in America, and is the recipient of the Edward Robb Ricketts Award for outstanding contribution to cardiovascular medicine, American Heart Association awards, TCT Master Clinical Operator award and Master of the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions award.

  • Dr. Heywood has been named one of San Diego’s Top Cardiologists and was formerly the director of the Cardiac Transplant Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center

  • Dr. Mohan has received Fellow Teacher of the Year award from Scripps Clinic

  • Dr. Srivastava has received a Teacher of the Year award from Scripps Clinic and a number of awards from the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology and the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation

  • Dr. Uddin has received the Fellow Teacher of the Year award from Scripps Clinic

  • Dr Cork was voted Top Doctors (San Diego Magazine) for the years 2017-2019

  • Dr Rubenson was voted Top Doctors in San Diego Magazine from 2011 -2018. He received the Educator of the Year from the California Chapter, American College of Cardiology in 2018. He also received the Cardiology Fellowship, Best Teacher Award in 2018.

  • Dr. Romero received four Navy and Marine Corps Commendation medals during his time in the US Navy for his work as Echo Director at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, humanitarian medicine work in Southeast Asia, and volunteering locally as the medical director of the San Diego Society of Echocardiography.

Our Division supports Scripps’ robust training program for the next generation of cardiologists. We have both a longstanding ACGME cardiology fellowship as well as a dedicated ACGME advanced heart failure fellowship. We also have the Scripps Clinic Interventional/Structural/Peripheral Interventional Fellowship which dates back to 1988 and has trained nearly 100 interventionalists who are now practicing and teaching throughout the country.

For more information or to apply, please visit the Graduate Medical Education page.

SCMG has a long history of pioneering new technology in interventional and structural cardiology and engaging in a broad spectrum of research, including:

  • In the 1980s, Scripps Clinic physicians developed novel balloon angioplasty techniques to treat complex coronary disease.
  • In the 1990’s Scripps Clinic continued its pioneering work inventing coronary stenting and intravascular radiation (brachytherapy) to treat restenosis.
  • Scripps Clinic was the initial investigational site for rotational atherectomy and played a pivotal role in developing ECMO support for patients at high risk during interventional procedures.
  • In the 2000s Scripps Clinic has continued its pioneering role by developing novel mechanical support devices (i.e. Impella) and performing groundbreaking research in transcatheter aortic valve replacement, mitral valve repair/replacement, left atrial appendage occlusion, and post-stenting antiplatelet therapy.
  • Using echocardiography to make an earlier diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis
  • Using electronic medical records and artificial intelligence algorithms to help identify patients who may be at risk for cardiac amyloidosis
  • Participating in a collaborative national registry of cardiac amyloidosis, to foster research and education
  • Multi-center national clinical trial for a novel therapy for cardiac amyloidosis
  • Using cardiac rhythm monitors to detect cardiac toxicity in patients undergoing chemotherapy, with the hope of detecting arrhythmias earlier in the course of treatment
  • Transcatheter mitral valve replacement (TMVR), comparing implantation of the INTREPID mitral valve to traditional open-heart surgery (the APOLLO trial)
  • Testing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVR) in patients with aortic stenosis who are low risk for traditional open-heart surgery
  • Evaluating the next generation transcatheter mitral valve repair device (PASCAL) in patients with mitral regurgitation (CLASP-IID trial)
  • Transcatheter tricuspid valve repair. Treating tricuspid regurgitation percutaneously using the TriClip device in patients instead of open-heart surgery (the TRILUMINATE trial)
  • Left atrial appendage closure; testing whether the WATCHMAN device in patients with atrial fibrillation who have absolute contraindications to oral anticoagulants (ASAP-TOO)
  • Evaluating next-generation left atrial appendage closure devices in patients with atrial fibrillation (AMULET, WATCHMAN FLX)
  • Percutaneous coronary intervention (ILUMIEN IV, SHOCKWAVE, DISPERSE-CAD III, and ONYX ONE CLEAR studies)
  • Interventional heart failure: Implantation of a transcatheter interatrial shunt device (CORVIA, V-WAVE) to improve symptoms and outcomes in patients with heart failure (REDUCE HF-II, RELIEVE HF trials)
  • Ambulatory Pulmonary Artery Sensor guided management in patients with elevated NT-BNP (GUIDE-HF)
  • Technologies for non-invasive measurement of cardiac output
  • Improving diagnostic accuracy and management of patients with suspected heart failure in Emergency Departments (Scripps-Heart Failure ED project)
  • Implantation of a transcatheter inter-atrial shunt device (CORVIA, V-WAVE) to improve symptoms and outcomes in patients with heart failure (REDUCE LAP-HF and RELIEVE-HF trials)
  • Participated in SPINS Study (Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Stress Perfusion Imaging for Evaluation of Patients with Chest Pain)
SEE ALL SCMG RESEARCH