David Benditt, MD

Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Cardiac Arrhythmia Center

Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Dr. David Benditt received his undergraduate education in electrical engineering and his M.D. from the University of Manitoba. After completing fellowships in general cardiology and cardiac electrophysiology at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, Dr. Benditt joined the faculty of the University of Minnesota Cardiovascular Division, where he established the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center (CAC). The CAC’s mission supports basic and clinical research on the causes, diagnoses, and treatments of cardiac arrhythmias, syncope (fainting disorders), and sudden cardiac death. Internationally renowned since the 1980s, the CAC offers full-spectrum medical management, device therapy (including pacemakers, implantable defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy), and both minimally-invasive and surgical ablation treatment. Currently, Dr. Benditt serves as a co-director for the Cardiac Arrhythmia Center and is a medical consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

In 1976 Dr. Benditt and colleagues published a seminal article, “Analysis of secondary pauses following termination of rapid atrial pacing in man” (Circulation 1976;54:436-441). Dr. Benditt’s research and clinical interests continued to encompass all areas of cardiac electrophysiology diagnosis and treatment, including the introduction and development of rate-responsive pacing, physiological pacing, and transvenous defibrillation.

Dr. Benditt pioneered the addition of tilt-table testing to clinical practice, and in 1989 published “Upright body tilt for evaluation of patients with recurrent, unexplained syncope” (Pacing Clin Electrophysiol 1989;12:117-124) with colleagues. In 2007, the Heart Rhythm Society awarded Dr. Benditt a Pioneer in Pacing and Electrophysiology Award.

“Dr. Benditt’s pioneering work in syncope highlights a career devoted to improving patient care.” Stephen C. Hammill, M.D. (2007)

Today, Dr. Benditt’s principal research interests involve the evaluation of syncope and related autonomic disturbances. His clinical practice serves all adult cardiac electrophysiology patients, including those with syncope and arrhythmias.

Professional Organizations

• American College of Cardiology, Fellow
• American Heart Association, established investigator
• American Heart Association (Minnesota Affiliate), past president
• Council of Presidents, Heart Rhythm Society
• European Heart Rhythm Association, member
• Heart Rhythm Society, past president
• Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Fellow

Journal Editorial Boards

• Journal of Interventional Electrophysiology, Associate Editor
• Europace
• Journal of the American College of Cardiology
• American Journal of Cardiology
• Hellenic Journal of Cardiology

Selected Publications

Benditt DG, Goldstein M, Sutton R, Yannopoulos D. Dispatcher-directed, bystander-initiated cardiopulmonary resuscitation: A safe step, but only a first step, in an integrated approach to improving sudden-cardiac-arrest survival. Circulation 2010;121:10-13

Molina JE, Roberts CL, Benditt DG. Long-term follow-up of permanent transvenous pacing systems preserved during tricuspid-valve replacement. Ann Thorac Surg 2010;89:318-320

Jhanjee R, Can I, Benditt DG. Syncope. Dis Mon 2009;55:532-585

European Heart Rhythm Association (EHRA); Heart Failure Association (HFA);
Heart Rhythm Society (HRS); European Society of Emergency Medicine (EuSEM);
European Federation of Internal Medicine (EFIM); European Union Geriatric
Medicine Society (EUGMS); American Geriatrics Society (AGS); European
Neurological Society (ENS); European Federation of Autonomic Societies (EFAS);
American Autonomic Society (AAS), including Benditt DG.
Guidelines for the diagnosis and management of syncope (version 2009): the Task
Force for the Diagnosis and Management of Syncope of the European Society of
Cardiology (ESC). Eur Heart J 2009;30:2631-2671

Wieling W, Thijs RD, van Dijk N, Wilde AA, Benditt DG, van Dijk JG. Symptoms and signs of syncope: A review of the link between physiology and clinical clues. Brain 2009;132:2630-2642

Benditt DG, Goldstein M, Belalcazar A. The leadless ultrasonic pacemaker: A sound idea? Heart Rhythm 2009;6:749-751

Benditt DG, Nguyen JT. Syncope: Therapeutic approaches. J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;53:1741-1751

Ermis C, Benditt DG. Recurrent falls: Pace now, or wait for another fall? Heart 2009;95:350-352

Venugopal D, Patterson R, Jhanjee R, McKnite S, Lurie KG, Belalcazar A, Benditt DG. Subcutaneous bioimpedance recording: Assessment of a method for hemodynamic monitoring by implanted devices. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol 2009;20:76-81

Moya A, Brignole M, Sutton R, Menozzi C, Garcia-Civera R, Wieling W, Andresen D, Benditt DG, Garcia-Sacristán JF, Beiras X, Grovale N, Vardas P; International Study on Syncope of Uncertain Etiology 2 (ISSUE 2) Group. Reproducibility of electrocardiographic findings in patients with suspected reflex neurally-mediated syncope. Am J Cardiol 2008;102:1518-1523

Chow T, Kereiakes DJ, Onufer J, Woelfel A, Gursoy S, Peterson BJ, Brown ML, Pu W, Benditt DG; MASTER Trial Investigators. Does microvolt T-wave alternans testing predict ventricular tachyarrhythmias in patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy and prophylactic defibrillators? The MASTER (Microvolt T-Wave Alternans Testing for Risk Stratification of Post-Myocardial Infarction Patients) trial. J Am Coll Cardiol 2008;52:1607-1615

Chen LY, Benditt DG, Shen WK. Management of syncope in adults: An update. Mayo Clin Proc 2008;83:1280-1293

Nguyen JT, Benditt DG. Atrial fibrillation susceptibility in metabolic syndrome: Simply the sum of its parts? Circulation 2008;117:1249-1251