• Pediatric electrophysiology

• Arrhythmias

• Long QT syndrome

• Sudden death

As a pediatric electrophysiologist, my research focuses on the rhythm of the heart. Disturbances in the rhythm of the heart, or arrhythmias, can occur in otherwise healthy children or in children with heart disease. My research aims to improve the outcome of those children who have arrhythmias.

Many lethal conditions affecting the heart rhythm are inherited and I work on heritable conditions causing arrhythmias. I also collaborate with genetic researchers to find causes of inherited arrhythmias.

The current clinical electrophysiology researches focuses on two main research topics:

Sudden unexpected death (SUD):  Sudden death affects about 500 000 individuals each year in North America. The vast majority of such cases occur in older individuals with coronary artery disease. An important number, however, are due to primary electrical heart disease. This group of disorders is typically due to genetic mutations which predispose the individual to potentially lethal cardiac rhythm abnormalities.

I am part of a national research collaboration examining families of SUD victims to identify the cause of SUD in these families. I contribute as the only pediatric centre in this research. We have also participated in a collaboration with the Coroner’s Service of British Columbia to change how cases of SUD are dealt with in British Columbia. This work has potentially life-saving implications for the people of British Columbia and was done with CFRI summer student funding.

Working with a group of anesthetists, we are examining the effects of anesthetic agents on cardiac repolarization. Abnormalities of repolarization have been linked to sudden death and arrhythmias. This project overlaps with several projects dealing with cardiac repolarization.

My clinical work in SUD substrates has led to multidisciplinary collaboration with basic scientists, geneticists, genetic counselors and lay personnel. We have described a novel mutation in a Northern British Columbia community predisposing many individuals to SUD. This work has led to further collaboration, grants and ongoing research. I am a member of the medical advisory for the Sudden Arrhythmia Death Syndromes (SADS) Foundation and serve on the advisory of the American SADS Foundation.

Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT): Supraventricular tachycardia remains the most common chronic rhythm disturbance. I am the Principal Investigator on a multi-site study examining two antiarrhythmia medications in infants with this rhythm disturbance. This study is among very few prospective controlled studies pediatric electrophysiology.  The rarity of this type of work has seen the study itself be referenced in review articles on SVT.

In the realm of SVT, I have the fortune of collaborating with a basic science group focused on determining mechanisms of post-operative arrhythmias. This group has recently isolated cells from a neonatal rabbit’s cardiac conduction system. To our knowledge, the isolation of neonatal AV nodal cells has not been done before.

Collins KK, Van Hare GF, Kertesz NJ, Law IH, Bar-Cohen Y, Dubin AM, Etheridge SP, Berul CI, Avari JN, Tuzcu V, Sreeram N, Schaffer MS, Fournier A, Sanatani S, Snyder CS, Smith RT Jr, Arabia L, Hamilton R, Chun T, Liberman L, Kakavand B, Paul T, Tanel RE.: Pediatric nonpost-operative junctional ectopic tachycardia medical management and interventional therapies. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2009 Feb 24;53(8):690-7.

Hume-Smith HV, Sanatani S, Lim J, Chau A, Whyte SD.: The effect of propofol concentration on dispersion of myocardial repolarization in children. Anesth Analg. 2008 Sep;107(3):806-10.

Sanatani S, Duncan W, Chan S.: The challenge of diagnosing arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy in the young. Pediatr Cardiol. 2008 Jul;29(4):800-3.

Arbour L, Rezazadeh S, Eldstrom J, Weget-Simms G, Rupps R, Dyer Z, Tibbits G, Accili E, Casey B, Kmetic A, Sanatani S, Fedida D.: A KCNQ1 V205M missense mutation causes a high rate of long QT syndrome in a First Nations community of northern British Columbia: a community-based approach to understanding the impact. Genet Med. 2008 Jul;10(7):545-50.

Petko C, Bradley DJ, Tristani-Firouzi M, Cohen MI, Sanatani S, Saarel EV, Albaro CA, Etheridge SP.: Congenital long QT syndrome in children identified by family screening. Am J Cardiol. 2008 Jun 15;101(12):1756-8.

Krahn AD, Champagne J, Healey JS, Cameron D, Simpson CS, Thibault B, Mangat I, Tung S, Sterns L, Birnie DH, Exner DV, Parkash R, Sivakumaran S, Davies T, Coutu  B, Crystal E, Wolfe K, Verma A, Stephenson EA, Sanatani S, Gow R, Connors S, Paredes FA, Essebag V; Canadian Heart Rhythm Society Device Advisory Committee.: Outcome of the Fidelis implantable cardioverter-defibrillator lead advisory: a report from the Canadian Heart Rhythm Society Device Advisory Committee. Heart Rhythm. 2008 May;5(5):639-42.

Kramoh EK, Dahdah N, Fournier A, Sanatani S, Hosking M, Miró J.: Invasive measurements of atrioventricular conduction parameters prior to and following ventricular septal defect closure with the amplatzer device. J Invasive Cardiol. 2008 May;20(5):212-6.

Etheridge SP, Sanatani S, Cohen MI, Albaro CA, Saarel EV, Bradley DJ. Long QT syndrome in children in the era of implantable defibrillators. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2007 Oct 2;50(14):1335-40.

Harris KC, Potts JE, Fournier A, Gross GJ, Kantoch MJ, Cote J-M, Sanatani S. A Multicenter Study of Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Tachycardia in Children. Journal of Pediatrics 2006;149:822-6.

Sanatani S, Smith CR, Williams WG, Adatia I. Sudden unexpected death in children with heart disease. Congenital Heart Disease 2006;1:89-97.

Wong KK, Potts JE, Etheridge SP, Sanatani S. Medications Used to Manage Supraventricular Tachycardia in the Infant - A North American Survey. Pediatr Cardiol. 2006 Feb; 27(2): 199-203.

S Sanatani , N Mahkseed , H Vallance, R Brugada. The Brugada ECG in a Neonate. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol, 16:342-44, March 2005.
 
TJ Bradley, DL Metzger, S Sanatani . Long on QT and low on calcium. Cardiology in the Young. 14(6):667-670, Dec 2004.
 
J Walls, S Sanatani , R Hamilton. Post-hoc Diagnosis of Congenital Long QT Syndrome In Patients with Tetralogy of Fallot. Pediatric Cardiology. Published online: October 2004.

Teacher of the Year Award for excellence in undergraduate teaching, UBC Department of Pediatrics. 2006

Golden Rattle Award, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia – 2003-04

Rookie of the Year Award, Department of Pediatrics, UBC – 2001-02