Catherine Ikemba, M.D. - Faculty Profile

Biography

Dr. Catherine Ikemba's current interests are in prenatal diagnosis, treatment and counseling for children with congenital heart disease. Her team is continuing to develop their fetal heart program, which has been approved by the Joint Commission Disease Specific Certification in Fetal Heart Care since 2009. She spent a fourth year of fellowship training specializing in Perinatal Cardiology and three years of Cardiology Fellowship at Texas Children’s Hospital/Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Her pediatric residency training was at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, NY, and medical school was at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Education

Undergraduate School: David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA (1991), Biochemistry
Medical School: University of Southern California (1996)
Residency: Montefiore Medical Center/ Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1999), Pediatrics
Fellowship: Texas Children's Hospital (2003), Cardiac Advanced Imaging
Fellowship: Texas Children's Hospital (2003), Pediatric Cardiology

Research Interest

Prenatal diagnosis of congenital heart disease and the effect of a prenatal diagnosis on parental attachment and anxiety

Publications

Cardiovascular Profile Score and Perinatal Survival Among Fetuses With Ebstein’s Anomaly or Tricuspid Valve Dysplasia: A Multi-Center Retrospective Cohort Study: Freire G, Thieu N, Diaz ME, Komarlu R, Vernon MM, Ikemba CM, Michelfelder EC, Samai C, Kovalchin JP, Tworetzky W, Huhta J, Wilhm M, Fierstein JL, Freud LR Prenatal Diagnosis 2026 Feb 46 210-218
CMR Findings in the Long-Term Outcomes After Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MUSIC) Study: Author Collaboration ob, Lang SM, Taylor MD, Truong DT, Binka E, Powell AJ, Newburger JW, Dionne A, Kazlova V, Trachtenberg F, Awerbach JD, Bradford TT, Cartoski M, Cheng A, DiLorenzo MP, Dorfman AL, Elias MD, Garuba O, Sexson Tejtel K, Gerardin JF, Hasbani K, Taylor MD, Jone PN, Robinson JD, Jone PN, Lam CZ, Misra N, Morgan LM, Nutting A, Patel JK, Schuchardt EL, Singh GK, Slesnick TC, Pearson G, Pemberton V, Burns K, Freemon D, Miller J, Trachtenberg F, Hayes K, Crosby-Thompson A, Amarnath A, Ambrosoli J, Artis C, Rubio K, Kinhikar C, Marshall A, Mu P, Mbiydzenyuy D, Hu C, Ikemba C Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging 2025 Sep 18
Using Multimodality Imaging and 3-Dimensional Printed Models to Guide Decision-Making for Complex Congenital Biventricular Repair: Erdem S, Fares M, Murguia F, Moore J, Sturgeon G, Ikemba CM, Greil G, Hussain T, Andersen ND, Zou Q JACC: Case Reports 2025 Jun 30
Three-Dimensional Imaging Defines Straddling Mitral Valve Anatomy to Allow Successful Biventricular Repair: Doctor P, Islam IS, Ikemba CM, Fares M, Moore J, Sturgeon G, Jaquiss RD, Andersen ND World Journal for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Surgery 2025 Mar 16 283-286
Ethnic and racial differences in children and young people with respiratory and neurological post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2: an electronic health record-based cohort study from the RECOVER Initiative: Author Collaboration RE, Author Collaboration RP, Rao S, Azuero-Dajud R, Lorman V, Landeo-Gutierrez J, Rhee KE, Ryu J, Kim C, Carmilani M, Gross RS, Mohandas S, Suresh S, Bailey LC, Castro V, Senathirajah Y, Esquenazi-Karonika S, Murphy S, Caddle S, Kleinman LC, Castro-Baucom L, Oliveira CR, Klein JD, Chung A, Cowell LG, Madlock-Brown C, Geary CR, Sills MR, Thorpe LE, Szmuszkovicz J, Tantisira KG, Snowden J, Irby K, Darden P, Dixon L, Evans D, Garbe C, Hobart-Porter L, Howard L, Hummel K, Krehbiel H, Spradlin H, Yount P, Elliott A, Adam G, Angal J, Barber M, Clark K, Dos Reis C, Freesemann M, Friedrich C, Ikemba C EClinicalMedicine 2025 Feb 80
Redefining Biventricular Repair Feasibility in Prenatal Counseling: A Review of Fetal Echocardiograms in Patients Selected for Complex Biventricular Repair: Murguia LF, Ossa-Galvis M, Gaitonde M, Fares M, Gaur L, Andersen N, Ikemba C Pediatric Cardiology 2025 47 2067-2071
Can we diagnose aortic arch obstruction in a fetus with an atrioventricular septal defect?: Akam-Venkata J, Thankavel PP, Hussain T, Sharma K, Balakrishnan PL, Ikemba CM Cardiology in the Young 2024 Oct 34 2182-2188
Associations between Maternal Sociodemographics and Hospital Mortality in Newborns with Prenatally Diagnosed Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome: Lopez KN, Morris SA, Krishnan A, Jacobs MB, Bhat AH, Chelliah A, Chiu JS, Cuneo BF, Freire G, Hornberger LK, Howley L, Husain N, Ikemba C, Kavanaugh-Mchugh A, Kutty S, Lee C, McBrien A, Michelfelder EC, Pinto NM, Schwartz R, Stern KW, Taylor C, Thakur V, Tworetzky W, Wittlieb-Weber C, Woldu K, Donofrio MT, Peyvandi S, Craft M, Gramse H, Moon-Grady A, Lee W, Park D, Wiener A Circulation 2023 Jul 148 283-285
Reversal of Fetal Heart Block in Antibody-Positive Mother After Hydroxychloroquine and Dexamethasone: Hoda M, Scott W, Sharma K, Duryea E, Ikemba C Pediatric Cardiology 2023 Mar 44 727-731
Single-Stage Surgical Management of Atrioventricular Septal Defects with Coarctation of the Aorta: Akam-Venkata J, Ikemba CM, Martinez J, Pruszynski J, Heistein L, Pirolli TJ, Forbess JM Pediatric Cardiology 2022 Oct 43 1645-1652

Honors & Awards

Best Pediatric Specialists/Doctors in Dallas
D Magazine (2018)
Mom Approved Doctor
North Texas Child Magazine (2012)
Faculty Teaching Award
UT Southwestern Children's Medical Center (2011-2012)

Professional Associations/Affiliations

American Society of Echocardiography
Fetal Heart Society