Description
Dr. Kalaivani Sivakumar is a cardiologist and the medical director of the Advanced Heart Failure Program at UAMS. She and her team care for patients at every stage of heart failure, with a focus on treating the most advanced cases, including those who may need a heart transplant or a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) to help the heart function. She also has expertise in caring for unique patient populations, such as pregnant patients with heart disease, patients with pulmonary hypertension, adults with congenital heart disease who develop heart failure, and patients who experience heart problems as a result of cancer treatments like chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
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Transcript
I’m Dr. Kalaivani Sivakumar. I am a cardiologist and the medical director of the advanced heart failure program here at UAMS. We treat patients with heart failure at all stages of the disease. Especially uh when the heart failure is at the advanced stage when the heart is not able to work on its own. We evaluate these patients for heart transplantation or small pumps called left ventricular assist device that can work for the heart. In addition, we also see some special patient population like pregnant people with cardiac disease,
patients with pulmonary hypertension. Uh we see patients with congenital cardiac disease who develop heart failure. We also see patients who develop heart problems from cancer and cancer related treatment like chemotherapy and immunotherapy. While there were several personal experiences that inspired me to become a doctor, I’ve always had this deep desire to give back to the community and also impact the lives of people at a deeper level. During my free time, I like to play chess and I enjoy my son playing soccer.
