Kara A. Thompson, MD, FACC
Department of Cardiology, Division of Internal Medicine
About Dr. Kara A. Thompson
Dr. Kara A. Thompson graduated from Baylor College of Medicine in 1993, completed her internal medicine training at The University of Virginia in 1996, and completed subspecialty training in cardiology at The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, in 1999. After her cardiology fellowship, she practiced invasive, non-interventional cardiology in a private practice setting in Austin, Texas, for thirteen years. Dr. Thompson was also a member of the Seton Heart Failure and Transplant team. In 2012, Dr. Thompson joined the Department of Cardiology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. She continues to practice general cardiology and is board certified in cardiovascular disease, echocardiography, and nuclear cardiology. She has developed an academic interest in cardiac outcomes of childhood cancer survivors and published a research letter in the Journal of American College of Cardiology titled “Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer.” She is also interested in cardiac tumors and has published two chapters titled “Managing Benign Cardiac Tumors” and “Managing Malignant Cardiac Tumors” in the 2016 MD Anderson Practices in Onco-Cardiology Manual.
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Associate Professor, Cardiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Dual/Joint/Adjunct Appointment
Associate Professor, Cardiology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Research Interests
Cardiac outcomes of childhood cancer survivors
Cardiac outcomes of pregnancy after cardiotoxic therapy for cancer
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 1993 | Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, US, MD |
| 1989 | Georgetown University, Washington, DC, US, BA in History |
Postgraduate Training
| 2008-2008 | Level ll, Cardiac CT, Texas Cardiovascular, Austin, Texas |
| 1996-1999 | Clinical Fellowship, Cardiovascular disease, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas |
| 1996-1999 | Level II, Echocardiography, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas |
| 1996-1999 | Level II, Nuclear Cardiology, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas |
| 1996-1999 | Level II, Diagnostic Cardiac Catheterization, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas |
| 1993-1996 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine, University of Virginia Health Science Center, Charlottesville, Virginia |
Licenses & Certifications
| 2017 | Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology |
| 2014 | National Board of Echocardiography |
| 1999 | Cardiovascular Disease |
| 1996 | American Board of Internal Medicine |
| 1994 | Texas Medical License |
Experience & Service
Faculty Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor, Cardiology, Division of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012 - 2019
Other Professional Positions
Cardiologist, Austin Diagnostic Clinic, Austin, TX, 2008 - 2012
Cardiologist, Texas Cardiovascular Consultants, Austin, TX, 1999 - 2008
Cardiologist, Seton Heart Failure and Transplant Program, Austin, TX, 1999 - 2008
Extramural Institutional Committee Activities
Member, Faculty Senate, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2024 - 2025
Expert Panelist, The Use of Statins in the Employee Drug Benefit Plan, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2021
Member, Faculty Senate, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2017 - 2023
Member, Clinical Effectiveness Subcommittee for the Department of Cardiology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 2013 - 2016
Honors & Awards
| 2017 | Research Award for the 2017 Cancer Survivorship Symposium (Co-Author on poster "Relationships Among Hypertension (HTN) Susceptibility Loci, Hypertension, and Late Anthracycline-Related Cardiotoxicity in Childhood Cancer Survivors (CCS)"), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2016 | Finalist for Faculty Excellence in Research Poster Award for "Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer" presented at the Cancer Survivorship Research Symposium, MD Anderson Cancer Center |
| 2012 | Good Pick- Up Award, Austin Diagnostic Clinic |
| 2011 - 2012 | Best Doctors 2011 |
| 1998 | AHA/ Wyeth- Ayerst Women in Cardiology, AHA |
Professional Memberships
Selected Presentations & Talks
Local Presentations
- 2025. Cardiac Masses. Core curriculum conference for the fellows. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2025. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 15th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2025 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2025. Pregnancy and The Heart After Cancer. Heart Success in Cardio Oncology Clinical Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2024. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 14th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2024 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2023. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 13th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2023 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2022. Primary and Secondary Cardiac Tumors. On Demand Recording on Cardiac Masses for 33rd Annual American Society of Echocardiography Scientific Sessions. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2022. Cardiac Masses. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2022. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. Virtual-12th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2022 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2021. Emergency Bedside Pericardiocentesis. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2021. Cardiac Masses. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2021. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. Virtual-11th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2021 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Managing a Pregnant Patient with Adriamycin Induced Cardiomyopathy. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. LV Masses. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Pregnancy and the Heart after Cancer. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. Virtual- Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2020 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2020. Cardiac Masses. Cardio-Oncology Multidisciplinary Practice. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2019. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2019. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 10th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2019 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2018. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 9th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2018 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2017. Cardiac Masses Including Primary and Secondary Tumors of the Heart. 8th Annual Houston Echo Review: Boot Camp for 2017 Echo Board. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2017. Cardiac Masses, Updates in Cardiology. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2017. Management of Cardiac Tumors. Division of Internal Medicine Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2016. Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer. Fourth International Conference on Cancer and the Heart. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2016. Interactive Case Discussion on Diastology Guidelines, Updates in Cardiology. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2015. Targeted Therapy Cardiovascular Side Effects. Cardio-Oncology Boot Camp. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2015. Private Practice Cardiology. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2015. Diastolic Dysfunction. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2015. Management of Cardiac Tumors. Fellow Conference. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2014. Heart Failure and Pregnancy. Cardiology Grand Rounds. Houston, Texas, US.
Regional Presentations
- 2025. Echo Evaluation. Invited. TCACC. Houston, Texas, US.
- 2015. Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer. Invited. Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer, VA, US.
International Presentations
- 2018. Pregnancy after Cancer and Chemotherapy. Invited, IT.
- 2018. Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer. Invited, IT.
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Haddad, F, Thompson, KA, Koutroumpakis, E, Palaskas, NL, Mouhayar, E. Pericardial Decompression Syndrome Complicated by Left Ventricular Thrombus and Systemic Embolization. JACC: Case Reports 31(26), 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 42149074.
- Ali, HR, Faiz, S, Deswal, A, Palaskas, NL, Iliescu, C, Thompson, KA, Ohanian, M, Pemmaraju, N, Bose, P, Sahay, S. Sotatercept for the Treatment of Myeloproliferative Neoplasm–Associated Group 5 Pulmonary Hypertension. JACC: CardioOncology 8(2):200-204, 2026. e-Pub 2026. PMID: 41910516.
- Ali, A, Jewani, P, Bourdillon, M, Koutroumpakis, E, Khalaf, SZ, Charitakis, K, Thompson, KA, Marmagkiolis, K, Deswal, A, Iliescu, C. Navigating P2Y12 inhibition in the labyrinth of cardio-oncology care. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 11, 2024. e-Pub 2024. PMID: 38486704.
- Shobayo F, Bajwa M, Koutroumpakis E, Hassan SA, Palaskas NL, Iliescu C, Abe JI, Mouhayar E, Karimzad K, Thompson KA, Deswal A, Yusuf S. Acute coronary syndrome in patients with cancer. Expert Rev Cardiovasc Ther 20(4):275-290, 2022. e-Pub 2022. PMID: 35412407.
- Hui D, Mahler DA, Larsson L, Wu J, Thomas S, Harrison CA, Hess K, Lopez-Mattei J, Thompson K, Gomez D, Jeter M, Lin S, Basen-Engquist K, Bruera E. High Flow Nasal Cannula Therapy for Exertional Dyspnea in Cancer Patients: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. Oncologist 26(8):e1470-e1479, 2021. e-Pub 2021. PMID: 33289280.
- Nolan M, Oikonomou EK, Silversides CK, Hines MR, Thompson KA, Campbell BA, Amir E, Maxwell C, Thavendiranathan P. Impact of Cancer Therapy-Related Cardiac Dysfunction on Risk of Heart Failure in Pregnancy. JACC CardioOncol 2(2):153-162, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 34396225.
- Palaskas N, Morgan J, Daigle T, Banchs J, Durand JB, Hong D, Naing A, Le H, Hassan SA, Karimzad K, Mouhayar E, Kim P, Lopez-Mattei J, Thompson K, Yusuf SW, Iliescu C. Targeted Cancer Therapies With Pericardial Effusions Requiring Pericardiocentesis Focusing on Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors. Am J Cardiol 123(8):1351-1357, 2019. e-Pub 2019. PMID: 30765065.
- Ghotra AS, Thompson K, Lopez-Mattei J, Bawa D, Hernandez R, Banchs J, Palaskas N, Iliescu C, Kim P, Yusuf SW, Hassan SA. Cardiovascular manifestations of Erdheim-Chester disease. Echocardiography 36(2):229-236, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30569522.
- Hildebrandt, MA, Reyes, ME, Wu, X, Pu, X, Thompson, KA, Ma, J, Landstrom, AP, Morrison, AC, Ater, JL. Hypertension Susceptibility Loci are Associated with Anthracycline-related Cardiotoxicity in Long-term Childhood Cancer Survivors. Scientific reports 7(1), 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28851949.
- Hildebrandt M, Reyes M, Wu X, Pu X, Thompson KA, Ma J, Landstorm A, Morrison A, Ater JL. Hypertension Susceptibility Loci are Associated with Anthracycline-related Cardiotoxicity in Long-term Childhood Cancer Survivors, 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28851949.
- Thompson KA, Hildebrandt M, Ater JL. Cardiac Outcomes with Pregnancy after Cardiotoxic Therapy for Childhood Cancer. Journal of American College of Cardiology 69(5), 2017. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 28153113.
- Abu-Halawa SA, Thompson K, Kirkeeide RL, Vaughn WK, Rosales O, Fujisi K, Schroth G, Smalling R, Anderson HV. Estrogen replacement therapy and outcome of coronary balloon angioplasty in postmenopausal women. Am J Cardiol 82(4):409-13, 1998. e-Pub 1998. PMID: 9723624.
- Thompson KA. Sustained wide complex tachycardia resulting in myocardial injury in a patient with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy 20(7):1866-9, 1997. e-Pub 1997. PMID: 9249843.
- Mitchell MA, Nath S, Thompson KA, Pagley PR, DiMarco JP. Sustained wide complex tachycardia resulting in myocardial injury in a patient with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 20(7):1866-9, 1997. e-Pub 1997. PMID: 9249843.
Invited Articles
- Liu, VY, Agha, AM, Lopez-Mattei, J, Palaskas, NL, Kim, P, Thompson, KA, Mouhayar, E, Marmagkiolis, K, Hassan, SA, Karimzad, K, Iliescu, C. Interventional Cardio-Oncology: Adding a New Dimension to the Cardio-oncology Field. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 5, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29868614.
- Palaskas, NL, Thompson, KA, Gladish, G, Agha, AM, Hassan, SA, Iliescu, C, Kim, P, Durand, J, Lopez-Mattei, J. Evaluation and Management of Cardiac Tumors. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine 20(4), 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29556752.
- Thompson, KA. Pregnancy and Cardiomyopathy After Anthracyclines in Childhood. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 5, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29632865.
- Palaskas N, Thompson KA, Gladish G, Agha A, Hassan S, Iliescu C, Kim P, Durand JB, Lopez-Mattei J. Evaluation and Management of Cardiac Tumors. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29556752.
- Hassan, SA, Palaskas, NL, Kim, P, Iliescu, C, Lopez-Mattei, J, Mouhayar, E, Mougdil, R, Thompson, KA, Banchs, J, Yusuf, SW. Chemotherapeutic Agents and the Risk of Ischemia and Arterial Thrombosis. Current atherosclerosis reports 20(2), 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29423705.
Professional Educational Materials
- Thompson, Kara. Management of Cardiac Tumors. https://mediaplayer.mdanderson.org/video-full/74016E54-DB21-4CA1-AA63-40A0BE4D895D, 2015.
Abstracts
- Ahmed O, King NE, Qureshi MA, Choudhry AA, Osama M, Zehner C, Ali A, Hamzeh IR, Palaskas NL, Thompson KA, Koutroumpakis E, Deswal A, Yusuf SW. Non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis: a clinical and pathophysiological reappraisal. European Heart Journal 46(3):236-249, 2025. e-Pub 2025. PMID: 39565324.
- Upadhyay A, Lopez-Mattei J, Kim P, Iliescu C, Durand JB, Palaskas N, Hassan S, Thompson K, Mouhayar E. Diagnostic Performance of High Sensitivity Troponin in Cancer Patients 73(9), 2019. e-Pub 2019.
Book Chapters
- Mouhayar E, El_Haddad D, Kim P, Thompson K. Onco-Cardiology. In: The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. 4th Edition, 2022.
- Thompson KA. Cardio-Oncology. In: Cardiology Secrets. 6th Edition, 2022.
- Thompson KA. Pregnancy and the Heart in Cancer Patients. In: Cancer and the Heart. 3rd Edition, 2019.
- Thompson KA. Cardio-Oncology. In: Cardiology Secrets, 2017.
- Thompson KA. Managing Benign Cardiac Tumors. In: MD Anderson Practices In Onco-Cardiology, 2016.
- Thompson KA. Managing Malignant Cardiac Tumors. In: MD Anderson Practices In Onco-Cardiology, 2016.
- Mouhayar E, El_Haddad D, Kim P, Thompson, K. Onco-Cardiology. In: The MD Anderson Manual of Medical Oncology. 3rd Edition, 2016.
- Anderson HV, Thompson K. Coronary Artery Disease Overview. In: Heart Disease in Women. Churchill Livingstone, 2002.
Patient Reviews
CV information above last modified August 21, 2026