Benet J. Pardini, Ph.D., MPAS

Associate Professor of Pediatric Cardiology and
Molecular Physiology & Biophysics

Loyola University of Chicago, 1983

Research Interests

My scientific training and research interests have focused on neural control of the circulation and central autonomic regulation. I have published in the areas of cardiovascular autonomic regulation in septic shock, anatomical organization of cardiovascular pre- and postganglionic autonomic neurons, and modulation of autonomic function by co-transmitters.

Since becoming a Physician Assistant in 1998, the bulk of my time has been spent in clinical service, in the field of pediatric cardiology. I care for infants, children, and adults with congenital heart disease. My research interests are now primarily clinical in nature. In the field of interventional pediatric cardiac catheterization I am involved in the development of stents appropriate for use in newborns and infants. Stents are small, metallic, cage-like devices designed to dilate and maintain patency of arteries and veins. They are commonly used in coronary arteries of adults with atherosclerotic disease, but are also used extensively in pediatrics to remove obstructions in larger vessels such as the aorta and branch pulmonary arteries. Although previously placed stents can be sequentially dilated to keep pace with growth in the native vessels, it is not currently possible to deliver a stent in infants that has the capacity to be dilated to adult proportions. I am interested in stents that are designed to eventually be "over-expanded", causing controlled rupture of the stent. In children who had these types of devices placed early in life, cardiologists could, many years later, place a larger stent within the original stent and continue to increase the vessel diameter as the child grows to adulthood.

Other research interests include using heart rate variability to determine autonomic control of the heart in congenital heart disease, such as hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Additionally, I am an investigator in a multicenter trial for investigation of the efficacy and safety of clopidogrel. a platelet inhibitor, in infants who require chronic antiplatelet therapy after placement of systemic to pulmonary shunts.

Selected Publications

1. Pardini BJ, Lund DD, Puk DE. Sites at which neuropeptide Y modulates parasympathetic control of heart rate in guinea pigs and rats. J. Autonom. Nerv. Syst. 38:139-146, 1992.

2. Pardini BJ, Lund DD, Schmid PG. The role of arginine vasopressin on peripheral cardiac parasympathetic nerve function in the rat. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 689:363-374, 1993.

3. Pardini BJ, Burkhart HM, Chandra S, and Fagan TE. Anomalous origin of the circumflex artery from the right pulmonary artery. Submitted, Annals of Surgery.