Bruce L. Wilkoff, MD, reflects on a career of improving pacemakers, defibrillators

Issue: February 2015

Bruce L. Wilkoff, MD, FACC, FHRS, FAHA, could have followed the career path of a biomedical engineer, but instead he took his talents to the medical field to help pioneer techniques for removing pacemaker and defibrillator leads and improving the performance of the cardiac devices.

Wilkoff received a Bachelor of Science degree in biomedical engineering from Northwestern University before making the decision to attend medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He then completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland, his fellowship in cardiology at University Hospitals, and his fellowship in research at The Ohio State University Hospital and School of Veterinary Medicine. Wilkoff joined the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in 1986 and today holds a number of positions there.

In addition to lead removal, Wilkoff is an expert on biventricular pacing for congestive HF and computerized analysis of pacemakers and electrophysiologic studies. He has written or co-written more than 300 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, is associate editor of Pacing and Clinical Electrophysiology, and serves as a reviewer or editorial board member of several journals. Wilkoff also is co-editor of the textbook Clinical Cardiac Pacing, Defibrillation, and Resynchronization Therapy.

Wilkoff has been involved in numerous trials studying medical applications for pacemakers and defibrillators and holds nine US patents, including an algorithm for defibrillator tachycardia detection and an efficient controller for pacemaker rate responsiveness. He is past president of the Heart Rhythm Society and served on its board of trustees and executive committees; he has also held leadership positions on committees and councils of the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not practicing medicine?

Mostly I spend time with my family. I have three sons and four grandchildren. I also do a fair amount of traveling, oftentimes with my wife or sons. I look forward to the near future when I can start traveling with my grandchildren.

If you hadn’t gone into medicine, what would you have done?

My undergraduate training is as an engineer; I did biomedical engineering. I really liked it, so I think I could have been very happy as an engineer. That’s probably what I would have ended up doing, but as it turns out, in medicine, I get to do so many things: teach, research, write, administration, strategic thinking. So I think I could have been happy doing a lot of different things.

What would you consider one of your biggest successes in your specialty?

Bringing along the concept of lead management, which includes transvenous lead extraction, a focus on treating infections of devices, and how to reduce the morbidity of pacemaker and defibrillator therapy. Another area I think I’ve influenced is the connecting of medical data from computer to computer and from person to person, so that it is easily accessible to everybody.

What was the last book you read?

I read a Jackie Robinson biography recently, and I picked that up because I had read a book before that titled 7 Men and the Secret of their Greatness by Eric Metaxas. It outlines seven great men: George Washington, William Wilberforce, Eric Liddell, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Jackie Robinson, Pope John Paul II and Charles Colson, and how these men of character really influenced the world. It was a great way of getting to know how the character of men has changed the world.

Whom do you most admire, and what would you ask if you had 5 minutes with him/her?

I would like to talk to Jesus. I am very much engaged, as a Jewish believer in Jesus, in wanting to understand how he intended those of us who understood that he was the Jewish messiah to live our lives and tell others about it.

What is the best advice you’ve ever received?

Learn how to say no. It has been learned over many years, because you can’t say yes until you say no to something. It is a matter of setting priorities. This is a lesson learned through many people over time.

Wilkoff at the 2012 City2Surf run in Sydney, Australia.

Photo courtesy of: Bruce L. Wilkoff, MD, FACC, FHRS, FAHA; printed with permission

Whom do you consider a mentor?

Charles L. Byrd, MD, a surgeon from Florida and a progenitor of transvenous lead extraction, was my original sponsor into the Heart Rhythm Society.

What kind of diet and exercise regimen do you follow?

I have an endless pool where I exercise every weekend. I have an elliptical that I use mostly on the weekends, but sometimes during the week. I do a great deal of traveling, and made a promise to myself that every night I am not in my own bed to spend 20 to 30 minutes on a treadmill or an elliptical. In terms of diet, I decide what I’m going to eat before the day starts. That really helps, except when I’m traveling.

What do you think will have the biggest influence on cardiology in the next 10 years?

Medical informatics, which is the management of data and the communication of data from one computer to the next.

What is your favorite travel destination?

I’m closing in on 2 million miles with United Airlines, so this is a tough one. Every other June, for our wedding anniversary, my wife and I travel to a meeting in the south of France. We get to explore the south of France and the countries nearby.

What is your favorite restaurant?

It was the Baricelli Inn, which was in Little Italy, Cleveland, but it no longer exists. We used to go there a lot. I don’t go to very many restaurants twice, but the Baricelli Inn was an exception. There is another great restaurant in Chicago called L2O. My son had his wedding reception there and it was beautiful. – by Erik Swain