Dr. Arthur J. Moss, famed University of Rochester cardiologist, dies at 86
Steve Orr
Dr. Arthur J. Moss, a celebrated cardiologist at the University of Rochester Medical Center whose work is credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives, has died at the age of 86.
Dr. Moss died Wednesday at his home in Brighton.
A URMC faculty member since 1966, Dr. Moss had been honored worldwide for his work in understanding and diagnosing heart arrhythmias and preventing sudden cardiac arrest.
"Arthur’s research is unsurpassed in terms of helping patients around the world live longer, healthier lives,” Dr. Charles J. Lowenstein, URMC's chief of cardiology, said last year on the occasion of Dr. Moss receiving a major award from the American Heart Association.
Dr. Moss, whose contributions to cardiology seem almost incalculable, published more than 750 scientific papers, led clinical trials, wrote book chapters, treated thousands of patients and mentored countless young students and physicians.
“He’s probably done more to advance our understanding of heart rhythm disorders than any cardiologist or researcher in the world,” Dr. Eric Topol, a cardiologist at the Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, said in a 2013 video tribute to Dr. Moss.
Among Dr. Moss's more noteworthy moments was publication in 1962, with several co-authors, of a paper that described the first instances in which cardiopulmonary resuscitation was used successfully.
In the 1990s he led a major clinical trial at URMC that demonstrated the value of a type of pacemaker, an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, that detects fast or irregular heartbeats and applies an electric shock to restore a regular beat. The device has been used in hundreds of thousands of patients, the URMC said in an obituary of Dr. Moss it released Friday.
Later, he led another clinical trial that advanced a second type of pacemaker.
The achievement for which he may be best known stemmed from his treatment in 1970s of a Canandaigua woman who suffered several mysterious fainting spells, one of them after growing excited while bowling.
Ruth Pontera's doctor referred her to Dr. Moss, who she saw after being admitted to Strong Memorial Hospital in cardiac arrest.
Electrocardiograms to measure her heart's electrical activity showed an unusual pattern, which Dr. Moss traced to wayward electrical signals from Pontera's brain that caused episodes of irregular heartbeat.
Hundreds of thousands of people suffer, as Pontera did, from the congenital problem known as long QT syndrome.
Dr. Moss devised a novel way to treat her problem, through neurosurgery, and Pontera went on to live a long life. He quickly became an authority on long QT syndrome, helping countless patients and perfecting, over the years, numerous ways to help them.
In 1979, he led the establishment of the International Long QT Syndrome Registry, which preserved patient data and blood samples to aid in study of the malady. It was one of the first genetic registries.
"Not only was Arthur extraordinary in understanding the immediate problem, but he was also visionary in that long before we knew how to analyze genes he started the registry and preserved blood samples that could be used in the future,” Dr. Mark Taubman, chief executive of URMC and dean of the UR School of Medicine and Dentistry, said in a statement released by the university.
“The registry has become one of the most important repositories in the world, helping prevent thousands of untimely deaths from long QT and enabling the in-depth investigation of how genetics influence a form of heart disease," he said. "The impact of his work is unparalleled.”
Dr. Moss received an undergraduate degree from Yale University and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He interned at Massachusetts General Hospital and finished his residency in Rochester, where he also did a fellowship in cardiology, according to the URMC.
At the time of his death he was the Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D. Distinguished Professor in Cardiology at the medical center.
Among his many honors were the Glorney-Raisbeck Award in Cardiology, the highest honor of the New York Academy of Medicine, in 2008; the Golden Lionel Award at the Venice International Cardiac Arrhythmias Meeting in 2009; the University of Rochester's Eastman Medal in 2012, and the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions' 2017 James B. Herrick Award, given to physicians whose scientific achievements have contributed profoundly to the advancement and practice of clinical cardiology.
“Arthur’s passing is very sad news for the world of cardiology and clinical trials,” Dr. David Cannom, director of Cardiology at Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles, said in the URMC obituary. “There was no one quite like Arthur in terms of intelligence, judgement, leadership skills and thoughtful friendship. Plus good humor. An era is closing and he will be sorely missed.”
Dr. Moss is survived by wife of 60 years, Joy F. Moss; three children, Dr. Kathy Lowengrub (Jeff Lowengrub); Dr. Debbie Moss (Keith Somers), and David Moss (Abby Rischin); nine grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held Sunday (Feb. 18) at 11 a.m. at Temple B'rith Kodesh, 2131 Elmwood Avenue in Brighton.
Donations may be made to the UR Heart Research Follow-Up Program, Alumni & Advancement Center, 300 East River Rd. P.O. Box 270032, Rochester, NY 14627.