About

Victor A. Ferrari, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. He specializes in noninvasive cardiac imaging, including echocardiography, cardiac MRI, and cardiac CT, with research expertise focused on these areas. Ferrari holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Drexel University and an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He serves as Staff Echocardiographer in the Cardiovascular Noninvasive Laboratory and is Co-Director of the Visiting Fellowship in Cardiac and Vascular Magnetic Resonance at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he is the Chair of the Penn Cardiovascular Imaging Council within the Penn Cardiovascular Institute and Department of Radiology. His clinical and research work emphasizes ventricular remodeling, pulmonary hypertension, and advanced imaging techniques for cardiac assessment.

Research topics

• Medicine
• Family medicine
• Cardiology
• Internal medicine
• Medical emergency
• Anatomy
• Emergency medicine
• Genetics
• Medical physics
• Intensive care medicine
• Pathology
• Biology
• Environmental health
• Radiology

Selected publications

• PO-01-154 ATRIAL FIBRILLATION IN TRANSTHYRETIN AMYLOID CARDIOMYOPATHY: IMPACT OF DISEASE STAGE ON CATHETER ABLATION OUTCOMES

  Heart Rhythm · 2026-04-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Associations between Myocardial Susceptibility and Reactive Oxygen Species in the Subacute and Chronic Period of Myocardial Infarction

  Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• CT-based visualization of aortic valve morphology: from 3D energy-integrating CT to 4D photon counting CT

  Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine · 2026-01-12

  articleOpen access

  Background: While 4D contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) is used to plan cardiovascular interventions such as transcatheter valve replacement, it is not yet routinely used to characterize minimally calcified aortic valves for planning of surgical valve repair. It is widely recognized that aortic valve morphology has implications for the durability of valve repair surgery. Purpose: The objective is to demonstrate the potential of CT image segmentation for elucidating aortic valve morphology prior to surgery and to illustrate a potential benefit of 4D CT and photon counting CT (PCCT) for patient-specific modeling of dysmorphic aortic valves. Materials and methods: This observational series includes nine patients who were suspected to have minimally calcified bicuspid aortic valve morphology on transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Mean age was 53 +/- 13 years and seven patients were male. For the seven patients who underwent aortic root surgery, CT-based segmentation of the aortic valve was compared to echocardiographic interpretation and direct intraoperative visualization of valve morphology. Two patients who have not yet undergone aortic surgery were imaged longitudinally with 4D energy-integrating detector CT (EID-CT) and 4D PCCT, and the morphological interpretation of the aortic valve was compared to previous TTE reports. Results: In most surgical cases, CT-based segmentation and direct visualization of the valve revealed morphological features not previously confirmed on TTE, particularly related to the cusp fusion pattern. Moreover, 4D CT enabled morphological assessment at both systole and diastole, which captured maximal cusp separation and valve closure. PCCT images were reconstructed with slice thickness as low as 0.2 mm, and revealed detailed dysmorphic features such as a small accessory cusp with fistula and a double raphe in separate patients. Conclusion: 4D CT-based segmentation has the potential to dynamically capture aortic valve features that are relevant to risk stratification and surgical planning at high spatial resolution.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• A generalizable deep learning system for cardiac MRI

  Nature Biomedical Engineering · 2026-03-25

  articleOpen access

  Cardiac MRI allows for a comprehensive assessment of myocardial structure, function and tissue characteristics. Here we describe a foundational vision system for cardiac MRI, capable of representing the breadth of human cardiovascular disease and health. Our deep-learning model is trained via self-supervised contrastive learning, in which visual concepts in cine-sequence cardiac MRI scans are learned from the raw text of the accompanying radiology reports. We train and evaluate our model on data from four large academic clinical institutions in the United States. We additionally showcase the performance of our models on the UK BioBank and two additional publicly available external datasets. We explore emergent capabilities of our system and demonstrate remarkable performance across a range of tasks, including the problem of left-ventricular ejection fraction regression and the diagnosis of 39 different conditions such as cardiac amyloidosis and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. We show that our deep-learning system is capable of not only contextualizing the staggering complexity of human cardiovascular disease but can be directed towards clinical problems of interest, yielding impressive, clinical-grade diagnostic accuracy with a fraction of the training data typically required for such tasks.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Clinical Outcome Prediction Model in Tetralogy of Fallot Without Pulmonary Valve Replacement Using Contraction Fraction From the SCOUT‐TOF Registry

  Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025-05-13 · 3 citations

  articleOpen access

  Background Few large scale prediction models of clinical outcomes in repaired tetralogy of Fallot (rTOF) exist. Further, contraction fraction, a novel parameter indexing stroke volume by mass reflecting myocardial efficiency, has not been studied. The goals of this study were to develop and validate an rTOF prediction model of clinical outcome from a single center, the SCOUT‐TOF (Single Center Outcomes Using Cardiac Magnetic Resonance in Tetralogy of Fallot) registry, using readily available cardiac magnetic resonance parameters and explore novel metrics. Methods and Results We retrospectively reviewed cardiac magnetic resonance parameters of patients with rTOF undergoing cardiac magnetic resonance from 2005 to 2021. Composite outcome 1 (CO1) included death, transplantation, ventricular tachycardia, and pacemaker placement, and composite outcome 2 (CO2) added cardiovascular hospitalizations. An elastic net was used to identify significant variables to enter a best subsets logistic regression. A group of 761 patients with rTOF were studied with a median follow‐up of 4.15 years; 31 and 44 CO1 and CO2 events occurred respectively. Right ventricular (RV) contraction fraction was the most significant predictor for CO1 (area under the curve, 0.72; odds ratio [OR], 0.54; P =0.01) and CO2 (area under the curve, 0.69; OR, 0.60; P =0.01). RV contraction fraction was lower for those met that CO1 and CO2 end points (median 1.84 [1.48–2.39] versus 2.34 [1.72–3.02] and 1.88 [1.51–2.53] versus 2.34 [1.72–3.02] cc×cm 2.7 /g×m 1.4 , P <0.01 respectively). Additional significant predictors for CO1 were indexed RV mass/volume and left ventricular ejection fraction whereas for CO2, left ventricular global function index and left ventricular mass were additional predictors. Conclusions In rTOF, RV contraction fraction, a novel biomarker of ventricular efficiency, may be used to possibly improve risk stratification. In addition, not only RV but left ventricular measures of remodeling should be considered in the follow‐up of these patients.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of right pulmonary vein anatomical variations on the phrenic nerve trajectory and pulmonary vein isolation strategy: Preprocedural imaging and 3D mapping insights

  Heart Rhythm · 2025-02-21

  articleOpen access

  BACKGROUND: Predicting phrenic nerve (PN) location based on right pulmonary vein (RPV) anatomy using preablation imaging may help avoid PN injury. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between RPV anatomical variations and PN trajectory. METHODS: One hundred three consecutive patients who underwent preablation computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging had RPV anatomy identified as typical with separate right superior PV (RSPV) and right inferior PV (RIPV) showing distal branching vs right middle PV (RMPV) or early branching of the RSPV. PN location was identified using high-output pacing (50 mA × 2 ms) over 3 contiguous RPV ostial and paraseptal antral zones: RSPV, RPV carina, and RIPV. The relationship between anatomical variations and the PN trajectory, with the need to adjust planned ablation lines to more distal antral position (greater than additional 10 mm from the ostium), was determined. RESULTS: Early branching of the RSPV occurred in 24%, and an RMPV was present in 21% with anatomical variations more frequent in women (65% vs 38%; P=.01). PN capture extending to the RIPV antrum was significantly more common in patients with an RMPV (59.1%; prevalence ratio [PR] 10.3; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.5-43.2) or early branching of the RSPV (64%; PR 10.9; 95% CI 2.7-44) compared to typical anatomy (3.6%). Antral ablation line adjustments to avoid PN injury were required in 28% of patients, more frequently in those with an RMPV (50%; PR 5.6; 95% CI 2-15.7) or early branching (56%; PR 5.2; 95% CI 1.3-15.3) compared to typical anatomy (7.1%). CONCLUSION: RMPV or early branching of the RSPV increases the likelihood of PN capture in the RIPV proximal antrum by 10-fold and requires a more distal antral ablation line to avoid phrenic nerve injury.

  PublisherDOI

• Systemic delivery of biotherapeutic RNA to the myocardium transiently modulates cardiac contractility in vivo

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2025-07-16 · 10 citations

  articleOpen access

  Lipid nanoparticles (LNP) represent a versatile platform for improving delivery of therapeutic nucleic acids. Yet, delivery to the myocardium remains a formidable challenge due to local barriers in the heart and systemic hindrances. In particular, plasma apolipoprotein E (apoE) directs LNP to the liver, limiting potential extrahepatic delivery. Here, we report a cardiotropic LNP (cLNP), which within 30 min post–intravenous injection accumulates in the heart of ApoE knockout ( Apoe −/− ) mice. The findings were confirmed for Apoe −/− rats and for wild-type mice after siRNA-mediated plasma apoE ablation. To test cardiac-specific functional effects as a proof of concept, we used cLNP loaded with siRNA to ATP2A2, encoding the sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum Ca 2+ ATPase 2a (SERCA2A). This cardiomyocyte-specific protein is a key regulator of contractility and relaxation. Intravenous administration of cLNP/siRNA-ATP2A2 in Apoe −/− mice led to near-complete ablation of SERCA2A in the myocardium and a potent modulation of contractility of the cardiomyocytes obtained from these mice. In summary, cardiotropic nanocarriers may allow the delivery and effect of RNA and other agents to the myocardium. Achieving this unmet medical need promises new types of treatment for heart diseases, which remains the leading cause of death worldwide.

  PublisherDOI

• Guidance for Incorporating FDA Processes Into the ACC/AHA Clinical Practice Guideline Methodology

  Journal of the American College of Cardiology · 2025-09-25 · 2 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping and R2* of Ischemia-reperfusion Injury and its Relationship with Reactive Oxygen Species Activity

  Proceedings on CD-ROM - International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. Scientific Meeting and Exhibition/Proceedings of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Meeting and Exhibition · 2025-09-16

  article

  Motivation: There is a need for specific imaging of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) as it initiates infarct iron deposition, catalyzing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and heart failure. Goal(s): Our goal was to assess and image the relationships between susceptibility, R2*, and ROS activity. Approach: Six swine with IRI were imaged to quantify iron using QSM and R2*, and to measure ROS activity. Results: Regions of hemorrhage and infarct had higher susceptibility, R2* and ROS activity compared to remote regions. There was a positive correlation between infarct ROS activity and R2* in the hemorrhage, and between infarct ROS activity and susceptibility in the hemorrhage. Impact: The observed associations between magnetic susceptibility and R2* with ROS activity allows for better understanding of IRI and potential to develop new targeted interventions. This suggests that iron could be a catalyst for ROS production in ischemia-reperfusion injury.

  PublisherDOI

• Comparison of Regression Models for Hydrodynamic Hull Forces

  Progress in marine science and technology · 2025-08-07

  book-chapterOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This paper presents a comparison of different regression methods, all used to prepare a manoeuvring model. The regressions are all based on the same benchmark set of captive data for hydrodynamic hull forces. The methods considered are the MMG model, one polynomial model developed at MARIN, one based on spherical harmonic functions, two based on machine learning and finally the Kriging response surface model. All these methods are applied to the same data set of the KCS test-case and statistical metrics are used to evaluate each one of them. Advantages and disadvantages of each method are then highlighted based on these results.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Julio A. Chirinos

  University of Pennsylvania

  223 shared

• Patrick Segers

  Ghent University Hospital

  195 shared

• David A. Bluemke

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  185 shared

• Payman Zamani

  University of Pennsylvania Health System

  181 shared

• Raymond R. Townsend

  180 shared

• João A.C. Lima

  Johns Hopkins Medicine

  178 shared

• Matthew J. Budoff

  UCLA Medical Center

  176 shared

• Scott Lilly

  The Ohio State University

  176 shared

Education

• MD

  University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

  1986