Thomas Zellers, M.D.

Pediatrics - Cardiology
Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine
Pediatric Cardiology

Biography

Thomas M. Zellers, M.D., is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He serves as Vice President of Medical Staff Affairs for Children’s Health System, as well as Senior Vice President, Chief Clinical Officer, and Chief Quality Officer at Children’s Health Plano. He specializes in pediatric interventional cardiology.

Dr. Zellers earned his medical degree at UT Southwestern Medical School. He completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Virginia and received advanced training in pediatric cardiology and interventional cardiac catheterization through fellowships at the Mayo Clinic and Baylor College of Medicine, respectively. He also holds a master’s degree in medical management from UT Southwestern.

Certified by the American Boards of Pediatrics (cardiology) and Internal Medicine (adult congenital heart disease), Dr. Zellers joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 1989.

Dr. Zellers’ research interests include innovative transcatheter therapies to treat congenital and structural heart disease in children and adults. He also studies physician leadership, leadership training, and physician involvement in quality improvement. The author of numerous scholarly articles, he serves as an ad hoc reviewer for Pediatric Cardiology, Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, Circulation, American Journal of Physiology, and Catheterization and Cardiac Intervention.

He is a member of the American Association for Physician Leadership, the American College of Cardiology, the American College of Healthcare Executives, the Congenital Cardiovascular Intervention Study Consortium, the Dallas County Medical Society, the Pediatric Society of Greater Dallas, the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and the Texas Medical Association.

Education & Training

Medical School - UT Southwestern Medical School (1979-1983)
Residency - University of Virginia Health System (1983-1986), Pediatric Medicine
Fellowship - Baylor College of Medicine (1997-1997), Interventional Cardiac Catheterization
Fellowship - Mayo Clinic College of Medicine (1986-1989), Pediatric Cardiology

Professional Associations & Affiliations

American Association for Physician Leadership
American College of Cardiology
American College of Healthcare Executives
Congenital Cardiovascular Intervention Study Consortium
Dallas County Medical Society
Pediatric Society of Greater Dallas
Society for Cardiac Angiography and Interventions
Texas Medical Society

Honors & Awards

D Magazine Best Doctor 2022
D Magazine Best Pediatric Specialist 2003-2021
Pogue Family Foundation Master Clinician in Pediatric Cardiology 2015-2020, Children’s Health
Texas Super Doctors 2005-2020, Texas Monthly Magazine
Kathryne and Gene Bishop Distinguished Chair in Pediatric Care 2004-2015, UT Southwestern
Texas Hospital Association Leadership Fellow 2014-2015, Texas Hospital Association
Patient's Choice Award 2002, Mended Hearts Parents Group
Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award 1991, Awarded by Children’s Medical Center of Dallas

Books & Publications

Publications
- Acute and Midterm Outcomes of Transcatheter Pulmonary Valve Replacement for Treatment of Dysfunctional Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Conduits in Patients With Aortopulmonary Transposition and a Systemic Right Ventricle.
  Whiteside W, Tretter JT, Aboulhosn J, Aldoss O, Armstrong AK, Bocks ML, Gillespie MJ, Jones TK, Martin MH, Meadows JJ, Metcalf CM, Turner ME, Zellers T, Goldstein BH Circulation. Cardiovascular interventions 2017 Sep 10 9
- Invasive Hemodynamics of Adult Congenital Heart Disease: From Shunts to Coarctation.
  Veeram Reddy SR, Nugent AW, Zellers TM, Dimas VV Interventional cardiology clinics 2017 Jul 6 3 345-358
- Initial Experience With the Pediatric Impella Device: A Feasibility Study in a Porcine Model.
  Webb MK, Wang J, Riegel MS, Guleserian KJ, Forbess JM, Zellers TM, Dimas VV Catheterization and cardiovascular interventions : official journal of the Society for Cardiac Angiography & Interventions 2016 May
- Intermediate Outcomes in the Prospective, Multicenter Coarctation of the Aorta Stent Trial (COAST).
  Meadows J, Minahan M, McElhinney DB, McEnaney K, Ringel R Circulation 2015 May 131 19 1656-64
- One-year follow-up of the Melody transcatheter pulmonary valve multicenter post-approval study.
  Armstrong AK, Balzer DT, Cabalka AK, Gray RG, Javois AJ, Moore JW, Rome JJ, Turner DR, Zellers TM, Kreutzer J JACC. Cardiovascular interventions 2014 Nov 7 11 1254-62
- Management and Outcomes of Heterotaxy Syndrome Associated With Pulmonary Atresia or Pulmonary Stenosis.
  Sebastian VA, Brenes J, Murthy R, Veeram Reddy S, Dimas VV, Nugent A, Zellers T, Huang R, Guleserian KJ, Forbess JM The Annals of thoracic surgery 2014 Apr
- Closure of patent foramen ovale versus medical therapy after cryptogenic stroke.
  Carroll JD, Saver JL, Thaler DE, Smalling RW, Berry S, MacDonald LA, Marks DS, Tirschwell DL The New England journal of medicine 2013 Mar 368 12 1092-100
- Comparison of surgical, stent, and balloon angioplasty treatment of native coarctation of the aorta: an observational study by the CCISC (Congenital Cardiovascular Interventional Study Consortium).
  Forbes TJ, Kim DW, Du W, Turner DR, Holzer R, Amin Z, Hijazi Z, Ghasemi A, Rome JJ, Nykanen D, Zahn E, Cowley C, Hoyer M, Waight D, Gruenstein D, Javois A, Foerster S, Kreutzer J, Sullivan N, Khan A, Owada C, Hagler D, Lim S, Canter J, Zellers T Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2011 Dec 58 25 2664-74
- Stenting of aortic coarctation: acute, intermediate, and long-term results of a prospective multi-institutional registry--Congenital Cardiovascular Interventional Study Consortium (CCISC).
  Holzer R, Qureshi S, Ghasemi A, Vincent J, Sievert H, Gruenstein D, Weber H, Alday L, Peirone A, Zellers T, Cheatham J, Slack M, Rome J Catheterization and cardiovascular interventions : official journal of the Society for Cardiac Angiography & Interventions 2010 Oct 76 4 553-63
- Stent implantation for coarctation of the aorta in a premature infant through carotid cutdown as a bridge to surgical correction.
  Dimas VV, Leonard SR, Guleserian KJ, Forbess JM, Zellers TM The Journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery 2010 Apr 139 4 1070-1
- Simultaneous stent implantation to treat bifurcation stenoses in the pulmonary arteries: Initial results and long-term follow up.
  Stapleton GE, Hamzeh R, Mullins CE, Zellers TM, Justino H, Nugent A, Nihill MR, Grifka RG, Ing FF Catheterization and cardiovascular interventions : official journal of the Society for Cardiac Angiography & Interventions 2009 Mar 73 4 557-63
- Aspirin resistance in children with heart disease at risk for thromboembolism: prevalence and possible mechanisms.
  Heistein LC, Scott WA, Zellers TM, Fixler DE, Ramaciotti C, Journeycake JM, Lemler MS Pediatric cardiology 2008 Mar 29 2 285-91
- Comprehensive assessment of patent ductus arteriosus by echocardiography before transcatheter closure.
  Ramaciotti C, Lemler MS, Moake L, Zellers TM Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography : official publication of the American Society of Echocardiography 2002 Oct 15 10 Pt 2 1154-9
- Bedside balloon atrial septostomy is safe, efficacious, and cost-effective compared with septostomy performed in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.
  Zellers TM, Dixon K, Moake L, Wright J, Ramaciotti C The American journal of cardiology 2002 Mar 89 5 613-5
- Coarctation index: identification of recurrent coarctation in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome after the Norwood procedure.
  Lemler MS, Zellers TM, Harris KA, Ramaciotti C The American journal of cardiology 2000 Sep 86 6 697-9, A9
- Transcatheter coil occlusion of the small patent ductus arteriosus (<4 mm): improved results with a "multiple coil-no residual shunt" strategy.
  Zellers TM, Wylie KD, Moake L Catheterization and cardiovascular interventions : official journal of the Society for Cardiac Angiography & Interventions 2000 Mar 49 3 307-13
- Prostacyclin-induced relaxations of small porcine pulmonary arteries are enhanced by the basal release of endothelium-derived nitric oxide through an effect on cyclic GMP-inhibited-cyclic AMP phosphodiesterase.
  Zellers TM, Wu YQ, McCormick J, Vanhoutte PM Acta pharmacologica Sinica 2000 Feb 21 2 131-8
- Balloon angioplasty for recurrent coarctation of the aorta in patients following staged palliation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome.
  Zellers TM The American journal of cardiology 1999 Jul 84 2 231-3, A9
- Usefulness of Doppler echocardiography in diagnosing right ventricular coronary arterial communications in patients with pulmonary atresia and intact ventricular septum and comparison with angiography.
  Garcia JA, Zellers TM, Weinstein EM, Mahony L The American journal of cardiology 1998 Jan 81 1 103-4
- Enalapril does not enhance exercise capacity in patients after Fontan procedure.
  Kouatli AA, Garcia JA, Zellers TM, Weinstein EM, Mahony L Circulation 1997 Sep 96 5 1507-12
- Interaction among ET-1, endothelium-derived nitric oxide, and prostacyclin in pulmonary arteries and veins.
  Zellers TM, McCormick J, Wu Y The American journal of physiology 1994 Jul 267 1 Pt 2 H139-47
- Oxygen modulates endothelium-derived relaxing factor production in fetal pulmonary arteries.
  Shaul PW, Farrar MA, Zellers TM The American journal of physiology 1992 Feb 262 2 Pt 2 H355-64
- Endothelium-dependent relaxations of piglet pulmonary arteries augment with maturation.
  Zellers TM, Vanhoutte PM Pediatric research 1991 Aug 30 2 176-80

Research

Transcatheter Delivered Devices for Congenital and Structural Heart Disease
Innovative Use of Current Devices to Treat Congenital Heart Disease in Non-Traditional Ways
Adults with Congenital Heart Disease: Transition and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes
Physician Leadership, Leadership Training, and Physician Involvement in Quality Improvement

Clinical Focus

Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine
Pediatric Cardiology
Pediatric Interventional Cardiology
Adult Congenital Heart Disease