Cara Pellegrini, MD

Professor

Dr. Pellegrini is the Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology at the San Francisco VA, with a focus in atrial fibrillation and atypical atrial arrhythmias. She is particularly interested in the impact of cardiovascular risk factor modification on atrial fibrillation, atrial fibrillation screening, and stroke prevention. Additional interests include POTS/IST, medical education and leadership.

Dr. Pellegrini is an Associate Program Director for the UCSF Cardiology Fellowship and the VA Site Director for the Cardiac Electrophysiology Fellowship. She is very involved with medical education, with a particular focus on the teaching of ECG interpretation. She is active with the Heart Rhythm Society, having served on Guideline Committees, Scientific Sessions Planning Committees, and Education Committee.
Education
2019 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion Training, University of California
06/2017 - CORO Leadership Collaborative, UCSF
Fellowship, 06/2009 - Cardiac Electrophysiology, UCSF
Fellowship, 06/2007 - Cardiology, UCSF
ATCR Certificate, 06/2007 - Clinical Research, UCSF
Residency, 06/2004 - Internal Medicine, Hosp of the Univ of Pennsylvania
MD, 05/2001 - Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
BA, 05/1997 - Ecology and Evolutionary Bio, Princeton University
Honors and Awards
  • Emerging Faculty Leadership Academy Awardee, ACC, 2019
  • Joel Karliner Cardiology Fellowship Teaching Award, UCSF, 2019
  • CORO Leadership Collaborative Selectee, UCSF, 2017
  • Best Oral Presentation by a Jr. Scientist, Bay Area Clinical Research Symposium, 2008
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Grant, AHA Western States, 2006-2007
Publications

  1. Haghighat L, Kalantarian S, DesJardin JT, Pellegrini CN. Evaluating Pregnancy Safety During Cardiology Training. JAMA cardiology 2024. PMID: 39110472


  2. Yuan N, Duffy G, Dhruva SS, Oesterle A, Pellegrini CN, Theurer J, Vali M, Heidenreich PA, Keyhani S, Ouyang D. Deep Learning of Electrocardiograms in Sinus Rhythm From US Veterans to Predict Atrial Fibrillation. JAMA cardiology 2023. PMID: 37851434


  3. Oesterle A, Pellegrini CN, Dhruva SS, Kizer JR, Raitt MH, Liem LB. Systematic Reprogramming of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators to Match the 2019 Consensus Recommendations. Heart rhythm 2023. PMID: 37805017


  4. Oesterle A, Liem LB, Dhruva SS, Friday G, Raitt MH, Pellegrini CN. Reply: The Challenge of Minimizing Unnecessary ICD Shocks While Also Preventing Syncope. JACC. Clinical electrophysiology 2023. PMID: 37758373


  5. Oesterle A, Buzkova P, Pellegrini C, Hirsch C, Tracy RP, Siscovick DS, Djousse L, Mukamal KJ, Kizer JR. Fasting and Post-Load Glucose and Non-Esterified Fatty Acids and Risk of Heart Failure and its Subtypes in Older Adults. The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences 2022. PMID: 36373954


  6. Pellegrini CN, Buzkova P, Oesterle A, Heckbert SR, Tracy RP, Siscovick DS, Mukamal KJ, Djoussé L, Kizer JR. Dysregulated carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and risk of atrial fibrillation in advanced old age. Heart (British Cardiac Society) 2022. PMID: 36549682


  7. Oesterle A, Dhruva SS, Pellegrini CN, Liem B, Raitt MH. Ventricular arrhythmia detection for contemporary Biotronik and Abbott implantable cardioverter defibrillators with markedly prolonged detection in Biotronik devices. Journal of interventional cardiac electrophysiology : an international journal of arrhythmias and pacing 2023. PMID: 36737506


  8. Oesterle A, Liem LB, Dhruva SS, Friday G, Raitt MH, Pellegrini CN. Traumatic Syncope Caused by Prolonged Ventricular Arrhythmias With a Defibrillator Programmed to 2019 Consensus Recommendations. JACC. Clinical electrophysiology 2023. PMID: 36702697


  9. Higuchi S, Ito H, Gerstenfeld EP, Lee AC, Lee BK, Marcus GM, Hsia HH, Moss JD, Lee RJ, Dewland TA, Vedantham V, Tseng ZH, Patel AR, Tanel RE, Badhwar N, Pellegrini CN, Kawamura M, Shoda M, Hwang C, Refaat MM, Scheinman MM. The Value of Programmed Ventricular Extrastimuli From the Right Ventricular�Basal Septum During Supraventricular Tachycardia. JACC. Clinical electrophysiology 2022. PMID: 36858688


  10. Adam Oesterle, Sanket Dhruva, Cara N. Pellegrini, L. Bing Liem. CI-524-03 INAPPROPRIATELY DELAYED THERAPIES FOR VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN BIOTRONIK IMPLANTABLE CARDIOVERTER DEFIBRILLATORS. Heart rhythm 2022. PMID:


  11. Satoshi Higuchi, Hiroyuki Ito, Edward P. Gerstenfeld, Adam C. Lee, Byron K. Lee, Gregory M. Marcus, Henry H. Hsia, Joshua D. Moss, Randall J. Lee, Thomas A. Dewland, Vasanth Vedantham, Zian H. Tseng, Akash R. Patel, Ronn E. Tanel, Nitish Badhwar, Cara N. Pellegrini, Mitsuharu Kawamura, Morio Shoda, Chun Hwang, Marwan M. Refaat, Melvin M. Scheinman. EN-571-01 THE VALUE OF PROGRAMMED VENTRICULAR EXTRASTIMULI FROM THE RIGHT VENTRICULAR BASAL SEPTUM DURING SUPRAVENTRICULAR TACHYCARDIA. Heart rhythm 2022. PMID:


  12. Stacey Howell, Timothy Simpson, Tamara M. Atkinson, Cara N. Pellegrini, Babak Nazer. PO-652-01 TEMPORAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL TRENDS IN WOMEN OPERATORS OF ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY PROCEDURES IN THE UNITED STATES. Heart rhythm 2022. PMID:


  13. Howell SJ, Simpson T, Atkinson T, Pellegrini CN, Nazer B. Temporal and geographical trends in women operators of electrophysiology procedures in the United States. "Are Telehealth Visits Feasible for Vulnerable Patients?" 2022. PMID: 35501106


  14. Oesterle A, Giancaterino S, Van Noord MG, Pellegrini CN, Fan D, Srivatsa UN, Amsterdam EA. Effects of Supervised Exercise Training on Atrial Fibrillation: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. "Are Telehealth Visits Feasible for Vulnerable Patients?" 2022. PMID: 35235540


  15. Lee SY, Allen IE, Diaz C, Guo X, Pellegrini C, Beygui R, Cardona-Guarache R, Marcus GM, Lee BK. Efficacy and mortality of rotating sheaths versus laser sheaths for transvenous lead extraction: a meta-analysis. "Are Telehealth Visits Feasible for Vulnerable Patients?" 2021. PMID: 34839431


  16. Adam Oesterle, Petra Buzkova, Cara Pellegrini, H IX Joachim, Calvin Hirsch, Russell Tracy, David S Siscovick, Luc Djousse, Ken J Mukamal, Jorge R Kizer. Abstract 12796: Fasting and Post-Load Glucose and Non-Esterified Fatty Acids and Risk of Heart Failure and Its Subtypes in Older Adults. Circulation 2021. PMID:


  17. Cara N Pellegrini, Petra Buzkova, Adam Oesterle, H IX Joachim, David S Siscovick, Susan R Heckbert, Russell Tracy, Calvin Hirsch, Ken J Mukamal, Luc Djousse, Jorge R Kizer. Abstract 14355: Metabolic Dysregulation and Incident Atrial Fibrillation in Older Adults. Circulation 2021. PMID:


  18. Adam Oesterle, Shaun Giancaterino, Megan G. Van Noord, Cara N. Pellegrini, Dali Fan, Uma N. Srivatsa, Ezra Amsterdam. B-PO02-141 EXERCISE TRAINING REDUCES ATRIAL FIBRILLATION RECURRENCE AND BURDEN: A META-ANALYSIS OF RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIALS. Heart rhythm 2021. PMID:


  19. Kim EJ, Gerstenfeld EP, Pellegrini CN. Use of Adenosine to Release an Entrapped Catheter During Ablation of Premature Ventricular Complexes. JACC. Case reports 2021. PMID: 34317587


  20. Pellegrini CN, Buzkova P, Lichtenstein AH, Matthan NR, Ix JH, Siscovick DS, Heckbert SR, Tracy RP, Mukamal KJ, Djoussé L, Kizer JR. Individual non-esterified fatty acids and incident atrial fibrillation late in life. Heart (British Cardiac Society) 2021. PMID: 33483356


  21. Cara Pellegrini, Jorge Kizer, Petra Buzkova, Nirupa Matthan, Alice Lichtenstein, David Siscovick, Joachim Ix, Susan R. Heckbert, Kenneth Mukamal, Luc Djousse. ASSOCIATIONS OF INDIVIDUAL PLASMA NON-ESTERIFIED FATTY ACIDS WITH INCIDENT ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN OLDER ADULTS: THE CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH STUDY. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2020. PMID:


  22. Diaz CL, Guo X, Whitman IR, Marcus GM, Pellegrini CN, Beygui RE, Lee SY, Lee BK. Reported mortality with rotating sheaths vs. laser sheaths for transvenous lead extraction. Europace : European pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac electrophysiology : journal of the working groups on cardiac pacing, arrhythmias, and cardiac cellular electrophysiology of the European Society of Cardiology 2019. PMID: 31545350


  23. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Edgerton JR, Ellenbogen KA, Gold MR, Goldschlager NF, Hamilton RM, Joglar JA, Kim RJ, Lee R, Marine JE, McLeod CJ, Oken KR, Patton KK, Pellegrini CN, Selzman KA, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay. Circulation 2018. PMID: 30586772


  24. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Edgerton JR, Ellenbogen KA, Gold MR, Goldschlager NF, Hamilton RM, Joglar JA, Kim RJ, Lee R, Marine JE, McLeod CJ, Oken KR, Patton KK, Pellegrini CN, Selzman KA, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: Executive Summary. Circulation 2018. PMID: 30586771


  25. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Edgerton JR, Ellenbogen KA, Gold MR, Goldschlager NF, Hamilton RM, Joglar JA, Kim RJ, Lee R, Marine JE, McLeod CJ, Oken KR, Patton KK, Pellegrini CN, Selzman KA, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines, Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2018. PMID: 30412710


  26. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Edgerton JR, Ellenbogen KA, Gold MR, Goldschlager NF, Hamilton RM, Joglar JA, Kim RJ, Lee R, Marine JE, McLeod CJ, Oken KR, Patton KK, Pellegrini CN, Selzman KA, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines and the Heart Rhyth Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2018. PMID: 30412709


  27. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Lee R, Edgerton JR, Marine JE, Ellenbogen KA, McLeod CJ, Gold MR, Oken KR, Goldschlager NF, Patton KK, Hamilton RM, Pellegrini CN, Joglar JA, Selzman KA, Kim RJ, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: Executive Summary: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines, Heart rhythm 2018. PMID: 30412777


  28. Kusumoto FM, Schoenfeld MH, Barrett C, Lee R, Edgerton JR, Marine JE, Ellenbogen KA, McLeod CJ, Gold MR, Oken KR, Goldschlager NF, Patton KK, Hamilton RM, Pellegrini CN, Joglar JA, Selzman KA, Kim RJ, Thompson A, Varosy PD. 2018 ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline on the Evaluation and Management of Patients With Bradycardia and Cardiac Conduction Delay: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice Guidelines and the Heart Rhyth Heart rhythm 2018. PMID: 30412778


  29. Ito H, Badhwar N, Patel AR, Hoffmayer KS, Moss JD, Pellegrini CN, Vedantham V, Tseng ZH, Tanel RE, Hsia HH, Lee RJ, Marcus GM, Gerstenfeld EP, Scheinman MM. Use of Programmed Ventricular Extrastimulus During Supraventricular Tachycardia to Differentiate Atrioventricular Nodal Re-Entrant Tachycardia From Atrioventricular Re-Entrant Tachycardia. 2018. PMID: 30025686


  30. Dagres N, Chao TF, Fenelon G, Aguinaga L, Benhayon D, Benjamin EJ, Bunch TJ, Chen LY, Chen SA, Darrieux F, de Paola A, Fauchier L, Goette A, Kalman J, Kalra L, Kim YH, Lane DA, Lip GYH, Lubitz SA, Márquez MF, Potpara T, Pozzer DL, Ruskin JN, Savelieva I, Teo WS, Tse HF, Verma A, Zhang S, Chung MK, Bautista-Vargas WF, Chiang CE, Cuesta A, Dan GA, Frankel DS, Guo Y, Hatala R, Lee YS, Murakawa Y, Pellegrini CN, Pinho C, Milan DJ, Morin DP, Nadalin E, Ntaios G, Prabhu MA, Proietti M, Rivard L, Valentino M, Shantsila A. European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA)/Heart Rhythm Society (HRS)/Asia Pacific Heart Rhythm Society (APHRS)/Latin American Heart Rhythm Society (LAHRS) expert consensus on arrhythmias and cognitive function: What is the best practice? Volume 34 of Issue 2. 2018. PMID: 29657586


  31. Sun Yong Lee, Xiaofan Guo, Ricardo Cardona, Celso Diaz, Cara Pellegrini, Ramin Beygui, Gregory M. Marcus, Byron K. Lee. EFFICACY AND MORTALITY USING ROTATING CUTTING SHEATHS VERSUS LASER SHEATHS FOR TRANSVENOUS LEAD EXTRACTION: A META-ANALYSIS. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2018. PMID:


  32. Hiroyuki Ito, Nitish Badhwar, Akash R Patel, Ronn E Tanel, Kurt S Hoffmayer, Cara N Pellegrini, Henry H Hsia, Vasanth Vedantham, Randall J Lee, Gregory M Marcus, Edward P Gerstenfeld, Melvin M Scheinman. Abstract 12996: Use of Premature Ventricular Extrastimuli During Supraventricular Tachycardia to Differentiate Atrioventricular Nodal Reentrant Tachycardia From Atrioventricular Reentrant Tachycardia. Circulation 2016. PMID:


  33. Loring Z, Hanna P, Pellegrini CN. Longer Ambulatory ECG Monitoring Increases Identification of Clinically Significant Ectopy. Volume 39 of Issue 6. 2016. PMID: 27005323


  35. Pellegrini CN, Scheinman MM. Epidemiology and definition of inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Volume 46 of Issue 1. 2015. PMID: 26310298


  36. Pellegrini CN, Scheinman MM. Bradycardia: sinus and AV node dysfunction. Volume 26 of Issue 3. 2015. PMID: 26264482


  37. Preston M Schneider, Cara N Pellegrini, Paul Heidenreich, Edmund Keung, Barry M Massie, Ryan G Aleong, Pamela N Peterson, Paul D Varosy. Abstract 224: No Difference in Complications or Mortality by Implanted Cardioverter Defibrillator Type in Veterans Enrolled in The Outcomes Among Veterans with Implantable Devices (OVID) Registry. Circulation Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes 2015. PMID:


  39. Singh DK, Viswanathan MN, Tanel RE, Lee RJ, Lee BK, Marcus GM, Olgin JE, Han F, Vedantham V, Tseng ZH, Pellegrini C, Kawamura M, Gerstenfeld EP, Badhwar N, Scheinman M. His overdrive pacing during supraventricular tachycardia: a novel maneuver for distinguishing atrioventricular nodal reentrant tachycardia from atrioventricular reciprocating tachycardia. Volume 11 of Issue 8. 2014. PMID: 24793458


  40. Schneider PM, Pellegrini CN, Wang Y, Fein AS, Reynolds MR, Curtis JP, Masoudi FA, Varosy PD. Prevalence of guideline-directed medical therapy among patients receiving cardiac resynchronization therapy defibrillator implantation in the National Cardiovascular Data Registry during the years 2006 to 2008. Volume 113 of Issue 12. The American journal of cardiology 2014. PMID: 24793671


  41. Shalaby AA, Brumberg GE, Pointer L, Bekelman DB, Rumsfeld JS, Yang Y, Pellegrini CN, Heidenreich PA, Keung E, Massie BM, Varosy PD. Depression and outcome among veterans with implantable cardioverter defibrillators with or without cardiac resynchronization therapy capability. Volume 37 of Issue 8. 2014. PMID: 24520992


  42. Pellegrini CN. Can AV node ablation help save AV conduction? Volume 35 of Issue 7. 2012. PMID: 22519423


  43. Dewland TA, Pellegrini CN, Wang Y, Marcus GM, Keung E, Varosy PD. Dual-chamber implantable cardioverter-defibrillator selection is associated with increased complication rates and mortality among patients enrolled in the NCDR implantable cardioverter-defibrillator registry. Volume 58 of Issue 10. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2011. PMID: 21867834


  44. Pellegrini CN, Scheinman MM, Badhwar N. Idiopathic epicardial ventricular tachycardia with origin remote from vascular structures. Volume 44 of Issue 6. 2011. PMID: 21419422


  45. Pellegrini CN, Scheinman MM. Clinical management of ventricular tachycardia. Volume 35 of Issue 9. 2010. PMID: 20887902


  46. Ryan Aleong, William H. Sauer, Cara N. Pellegrini, Yanfei Yang, Edmund Keung, Paul Heidenreich, John S. Rumsfeld, Barry M. Massie, Paul D. Varosy. Clinical Subtype of Atrial Fibrillation at the Time of Implantation and Subsequent Mortality among Veterans With Implantable Defibrillators. Journal of Cardiac Failure 2010. PMID:


  47. Paul D. Varosy, Cara N. Pellegrini, Yanfei Yang, Edmund Keung, Paul Heidenreich, John S. Rumsfeld, Barry M. Massie. History of Heart Failure and Mortality among Veterans With Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillators. Journal of Cardiac Failure 2010. PMID:


  48. Pellegrini CN, Vittinghoff E, Lin F, Hulley SB, Marcus GM. Statin use is associated with lower risk of atrial fibrillation in women with coronary disease: the HERS trial. Heart (British Cardiac Society) 2009. PMID: 19176561


  50. Pellegrini CN, Lee K, Olgin JE, Turakhia MP, Tseng ZH, Lee R, Badhwar N, Lee B, Varosy PD. Impact of advanced age on survival in patients with implantable cardioverter defibrillators. Volume 10 of Issue 11. 2008. PMID: 18818212