Congenital Heart Disease

Dr. Richard Van Praagh is an internationally renowned pediatric cardiologist with a special interest in cardiac pathology and cardiac embryology. He is originally from Toronto and undertook training with the pathologist Jesse Edwards at the Mayo Clinic before moving to Children’s Hospital Boston. Together with his wife Stella he has made seminal contributions to our understanding of the morphology of congenital heart disease. One of his most important contributions was the publication in 1972 of “Segmental approach to diagnosis in congenital heart disease.” Dr. Aldo Castaneda in a recent tribute to Dr. Van Praagh said the following: “Richard impressed me very much, as a renaissance type of individual. He is extremely intelligent and pursues many interests beyond cardiac pathology. His background in philosophy and mathematics, to mention just a few of his many talents, is remarkably broad and deep. His alert and inquisitive mind often races in various direction simultaneously. he is brilliant at conceptualizing embryologic, anatomic sequential developments and deducing their anatomical and functional consequences.”