A photo of Alexander Opotowsky.

Director, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Program

Co-Director, Exercise Laboratory
Co-Director, The Heart Institute Research Core

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

513-803-2243

Board Certified

My Biography & Research

Biography

Alexander (Sasha) Opotowsky is director of the Cincinnati Adult Congenital Heart Disease (CINCH) Program. After medical school at Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, he completed Internal Medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Cardiology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. After a year of specialized adult congenital cardiology and pulmonary hypertension training at Penn, Dr. Opotowsky completed a two-year senior fellowship and joined the staff of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Service. Dr. Opotowsky founded the Boston ACHD Biobank in 2012, 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.

Clinical 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

Research 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

Academic Affiliation

Professor, UC Department of Pediatrics

Clinical Divisions

Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Adolescent and Adult Congenital Heart Disease, Heart Institute

Research Divisions

Heart

My Locations

My Education

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.

My Publications

Selected Publication

Prevalence and Prognostic Association of a Clinical Diagnosis of Depression in Adult Congenital Heart Disease: Results of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Disease Biobank. Carazo, MR; Kolodziej, MS; DeWitt, ES; Kasparian, NA; Newburger, JW; Duarte, VE; Singh, MN; Opotowsky, AR. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2020; 9.

Creatinine versus cystatin C to estimate glomerular filtration rate in adults with congenital heart disease: Results of the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Disease Biobank. Opotowsky, AR; Carazo, M; Singh, MN; Dimopoulos, K; Cardona-Estrada, DA; Elantably, A; Waikar, SS; Mc Causland, FR; Veldtman, G; Grewal, J; et al. 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). Alshawabkeh, L; Rajpal, S; Landzberg, MJ; Emani, S; Ephrem, G; Gray, C; Singh, MN; Wu, F; Opotowsky, AR. 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. Opotowsky, AR; Valente, AM; Alshawabkeh, L; Cheng, S; Bradley, A; Rimm, EB; Landzberg, MJ. European Heart Journal. 2018; 39:3253-3261.

Association of Albuminuria With Major Adverse Outcomes in Adults With Congenital Heart Disease: Results From the Boston Adult Congenital Heart Biobank. Rajpal, S; Alshawabkeh, L; Almaddah, N; Joyce, CM; Shafer, K; Gurvitz, M; Waikar, SS; McCausland, FR; Landzberg, MJ; Opotowsky, AR. JAMA Cardiology. 2018; 3:308-316.

EPAS1 Mutations and Paragangliomas in Cyanotic Congenital Heart Disease. Vaidya, A; Flores, SK; Cheng, Z; Nicolas, M; Deng, Y; Opotowsky, AR; Jr, LD M; Barletta, JA; Rana, HQ; Adelaide Pereira, M; et al. 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. Opotowsky, AR; Rhodes, J; Landzberg, MJ; Bhatt, AB; Shafer, KM; Yeh, DD; Crouter, SE; Tikkanen, AU. World journal for pediatric & congenital heart surgery. 2018; 9:185-193.

Resist Neglecting Diastolic Dysfunction in Fontan Physiology. Cedars, A; Opotowsky, A; Tedford, RJ; Burkhoff, D. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2021; 77:1595-1596.

Cardiac magnetic resonance derived atrial function in patients with a Fontan circulation. Critser, PJ; Truong, V; Powell, AW; Almeneisi, H; Opotowsky, AR; Ollberding, NJ; Gandhi, J; Lubert, AM; Mazur, W; Lang, SM; et al. International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging. 2021; 37:275-284.

Body Composition and Exercise Performance in Youth With a Fontan Circulation: A Bio-Impedance Based Study. Powell, AW; Wittekind, SG; Alsaied, T; Lubert, AM; Chin, C; Veldtman, GR; Cordina, R; Katz, DA; Mays, WA; Knecht, SK; et al. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2020; 9.