30 Years of the Cone Procedure: UPMC Children’s Celebrates Milestone Commemorative Program
September 10, 2023
On August 28, the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh celebrated the invention of the cone procedure to treat Ebstein’s anomaly with a special CME-accredited program in Washington D.C. as cardiologists and cardiothoracic surgeons gathered for the concurrently held 8th World Congress of Pediatric Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery.
The event featured lectures and presentations from José Pedro Da Silva, MD, Luciana Da Fonseca Da Silva, MD, and also Heart Institute leadership and faculty, including Jacqueline Kreutzer, MD, Victor O. Morell, MD, and Tarek Alsaied, MD, MS.
Dr. Da Silva gave a lecture titled “Evolution of the Cone Procedure: Where We Started and How Far We Have Come,” and Dr. Da Fonseca Da Silva gave a talk on “Novel Approaches to Surgical Management of Ebstein’s Anomaly: From Neonate to Adult.”
A Brief History of the Cone Procedure
Three decades ago, In 1993, José Pedro da Silva, MD, created the cone technique to repair Ebstein’s anomaly, a rare congenital heart disease (CHD). In patients with Ebstein’s anomaly, the tricuspid valve (TV) is malformed and displaced inside of the right ventricle (RV). This displacement and malformation cause tricuspid regurgitation into the right atrium. The cone procedure creates a durable repair using the patient’s own tissue, which creates a TV capable of appropriate growth.
It is safe to say that the invention of the cone procedure created a revolution in surgical repair for this serious form of CHD. Now, the cone technique is considered the worldwide gold standard of treatment for Ebstein’s anomaly.
Since 1993, Dr. da Silva, alongside Luciana da Fonseca da Silva, MD, PhD, have performed more than 360 cone procedures on patients of all ages and achieve excellent outcomes. They travel around the world to perform this procedure and share their knowledge and expertise with other physicians.
Further Reading on the Cone Procedure
Read more details about the cone procedure’s creation and evolution in an article on the Da Silva Center for Ebstein’s Anomaly website.
Learn more about the Da Silva Center for Ebstein’s Anomaly, part of the Heart Institute at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Read more about recent and past research from Dr. Da Silva, Dr. Da Fonseca Da Silva, and colleagues by visiting the PubMed library.
Upcoming Event: 4th Annual Da Silva Center for Ebstein’s Anomaly Symposium
Stay tuned for details on the 4th annual Da Silva Center for Ebstein’s Anomaly Symposium hosted by UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh in February 2024. Read more about the annual symposium and watch lectures from the 2022 event.
Refer a Patient
Referring physicians can get in touch with the Da Silva Center by email at dasilvacenter@chp.edu, by phone at 412-692-5218, or through our online form.
