Alexander Opotowsky, MD, MMSc
- Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program
- Co-Director, Exercise Laboratory
- Co-Director, The Heart Institute Research Core
- Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics
- alexander.opotowsky@cchmc.org
- Board Certified
About
Biography
I am the director of the Cincinnati Adult Congenital Heart Disease (CINCH) Program. After completing medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, I finished my Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and my Cardiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Following a year of specialized adult congenital cardiology and pulmonary hypertension training at Penn, I completed a two-year senior fellowship and joined the staff of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Service. In 2012, I founded the Boston ACHD Biobank, enrolling and collecting bio-specimens from over 1,600 patients. This resource has facilitated high-impact research using circulating and urinary biomarkers to better understand and treat adults born with congenital heart disease.
MD: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City, NY, 2003.
MPH: Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York City, NY, 2003.
MMSc: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 2012.
Internship and Residency: Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 2003-2006.
Fellowship: Cardiovascular Disease, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2006-2009.
Senior Fellowship: Adult Congenital Heart Disease and Pulmonary Hypertension, Boston Children's Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 2009-2011.
Interests
Adult congenital heart disease; pulmonary hypertension; pulmonary arterial hypertension, heart failure; exercise testing; atrial septal defects; ventricular septal defects; patent ductus arteriosus; Eisenmenger syndrome; single ventricle heart disease; cyanotic heart disease; bicuspid aortic valve; aortic stenosis; aortic coarctation; tetralogy of Fallot; pulmonary atresia; pulmonary stenosis; transposition of the great arteries; Ebstein anomaly; valve disease; mitral regurgitation; health-related quality of life
Services and Specialties
Interests
Adult congenital heart disease; exercise testing and physiology; biomarkers; biobanking; pulmonary hypertension; pulmonary vascular disease; right ventricular function and failure; heart failure; health-related quality of life
Research Areas
Locations (2)
Insurance Information
Cincinnati Children's strives to accept a wide variety of health plans. Please contact your health insurance carrier to verify coverage for your specific benefit plan.
Publications
Prevalence and Prognostic Association of a Clinical Diagnosis of Depression in Adult Congenital Heart Disease: Results of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Disease Biobank. Journal of the American Heart Association: Cardiovascular and Cerebrovascular Disease. 2020; 9:e014820.
Creatinine versus cystatin C to estimate glomerular filtration rate in adults with congenital heart disease: Results of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Disease Biobank. American Heart Journal. 2019; 214:142-155.
Relationship of Red Cell Distribution Width to Adverse Outcomes in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease (from the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Biobank). American Journal of Cardiology. 2018; 122:1557-1564.
Prospective cohort study of C-reactive protein as a predictor of clinical events in adults with congenital heart disease: results of the Boston adult congenital heart disease biobank. European Heart Journal (Elsevier). 2018; 39:3253-3261.
EPAS1 Mutations and Paragangliomas in Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2018; 378:1259-1261.
A Randomized Trial Comparing Cardiac Rehabilitation to Standard of Care for Adults With Congenital Heart Disease. World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Hearth Surgery. 2018; 9:185-193.
The Relationship of Handgrip Strength to Body Composition and Cardiopulmonary Fitness in Children and Young Adults. The Journal of Pediatrics: X. 2025; 16:200144.
Correlation between Olink and SomaScan proteomics platforms in adults with a Fontan circulation. International Journal of Cardiology Congenital Heart Disease. 2025; 20:100584.
Convergent Genetic Adaptation in Human Tumors Developed Under Systemic Hypoxia and in Populations Living at High Altitudes. Cancer Discovery. 2025; 15:1037-1062.
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