Allison Cabalka, M.D.

Dr. Cabalka is a pediatric cardiologist who has particular interests in the areas of interventional cardiac catheterization and echocardiography. She cares for patients of all ages with congenital heart disease and also participates in the care of structural heart disease with the structural heart disease team at Mayo Clinic.

Focus areas

Dr. Cabalka and her colleagues are interested in catheter-based intervention for treatment of congenital heart defects, such as atrial septal defect, patent foramen ovale, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus, and coarctation of the aorta.

In conjunction with the structural heart disease team at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Cabalka is interested in catheter-based closure of paravalvular leak and the application of percutaneous, catheter-based valve implantation for treatment of failing tissue valves in the heart (valve-in-valve treatment). Dr. Cabalka is currently the principal investigator at Mayo Clinic for two studies:

• Coarctation of the Aorta Stent trial. This trial involves treating patients with coarctation of the aorta (narrowing of the aorta) with catheter-based stent implantation and/or covered stent implantation.
• Melody® Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Post-Approval Study (Medtronic). The Melody valve is an FDA-approved percutaneous tissue valve that can be placed through a catheter to treat existing pulmonary valve conduit dysfunction (common after many types of congenital heart surgery).

Significance to patient care

Dr. Cabalka actively participates with the structural heart disease team at Mayo Clinic to provide care for complex structural heart issues, such as paravalvular leak closure and placement of new valves via a catheter-based approach, thereby avoiding the need for open-heart surgery.

Dr. Cabalka's research and involvement in the congenital cardiac catheterization team/structural heart disease team at Mayo allows improvement of patient care, offering catheter-based treatment of many complicated cardiac issues. The availability of percutaneous valve therapy and treatment of complex congenital heart issues is part of the multidisciplinary team approach at Mayo Clinic that provides continuous improvement in patient care.