Karl Q. Schwartz, M.D.

Education/Certification

M.D. - 1983
University of Rochester School of Medicine

1984-86
Resident, Strong Memorial Hospital Rochester

1986-90
Instructor and Fellow, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry

Research and Professional Experience

1990-96
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Assistant Professor Medicine/Cardiology

1986-90
University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry
Assistant Professor Medicine/Cardiology

Karl Q. Schwarz, M.D., is Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the Echocardiography Laboratory. He received his bachelor's degree in physics from Bowdoin College, and completed his medical training at the University of Rochester. His primary clinical responsibility is to attend on clinical echocardiograms performed at the medical center and mobile echo sites.

Dr. Schwarz, in collaboration with Dr. Xucai Chen, directs an active basic ultrasound research laboratory that specializes in the study of echo contrast agents and digital signal processing. The bulk of this work can best be described as clinically oriented electrical engineering. The basic ultrasound research laboratory works in partnership with a variety of ultrasound manufacturers to develop new diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of ultrasound machines. The following is a synopsis of that activity: (A). Contrast Echo. Dr. Schwarz has devoted the majority of his research career to the study of ultrasound contrast agents. He pioneered the use of pulsed wave Doppler ultrasound as a method for quantifying the instantaneous "concentration" of echo contrast in vivo and has used the technique in a variety of animal and human trials world-wide (Doppler intensitometry). Dr. Schwarz also showed that relative differences in arterial flow could be determined using contrast echo and that Doppler intensitometry was the measurement method of choice. In his most recent work, Dr. Schwarz developed a technique for the automatic measurement of LV volumes and LVEF using echo contrast and approximated 3D data acquisition (harmonic color Doppler left ventriculography or CHCD). The Doppler methods he developed are the foundation upon which all of the color Doppler energy (power Doppler) myocardial contrast perfusion studies are based. He is currently co-PI on two drug company sponsored multi-center trials. One is a multinational European trial of CHCD left ventriculography vs. radionuclide ventriculography for the determination of LV volumes and LVEF. The other is a multi-center US FDA phase III efficacy trial of Levovist® (Schering AG, Berlin, Germany) bolus vs. infusion for transcranial Doppler enhancement using Doppler intensitometry as the outcome measure. As co-investigator, Dr. Schwarz is now in the final year of an animal trial comparing the efficacy of echo contrast to indocyanine green dye as a semi-noninvasive measure of cardiac output (Dr. Xucai Chen PI). He is also the site director for a company sponsored (Nycomed) FDA phase III trial of echo contrast in humans. Dr. Schwarz is developing novel approaches to echo contrast imaging using ultrasound harmonics with Dr. Chen. Dr. Schwarz is an experienced software engineer and writes much of the code his lab uses in the control of equipment and data acquisition. (B). Acoustic Filter: Dr. Schwarz developed and patented an ultrasound-based fluid filtration device. The device was designed to remove microbubbles from arterial blood processed in the heart-lung machine. Residual microbubbles in arterial blood are thought to contribute to encephalopathy following procedures involving cardiopulmonary bypass. (C). Management Issues in Chest Pain Syndromes. Has completed several in-house studies on the management of chest pain syndromes and post myocardial infarction care. (D). Computerized Reporting and Clinical Outcomes Analysis. Dr. Schwarz wrote a computerized office management package for cardiology which in use at the University of Rochester and other medical centers nationwide. This package links clinical data from all cardiology disciplines for improved patient management and outcomes analysis.

References

Schwarz KQ, Becher H, Schimpfky C, Vorwerk D, Bogdahn U, Schlief R: Doppler enhancement with SH U 508A in multiple vascular regions. Radiology. 1994;193:195-201.

Schwarz KQ, Bezante GP, Chen X: When can Doppler be used in place of integrated backscatter as a measure of scattered ultrasound intensity? Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology. 1995;21:231-242.

Gottlieb RH, Hartley DF, Rubens DJ, Slotnik JS, Schwarz KQ, Robinette WB, Carson NL, Gutlierrez OH: Effect of a main renal artery stenosis on the downstream Doppler waveform in dogs. Academic Radiology. 1995;2:768-775.