Allan Klein, MD

Allan Klein, MD, is the Director of Cardiovascular Imaging Research, Director of the Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Diseases, and a staff cardiologist in the Section of Cardiovascular Imaging, the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute.  He is also the Course Director for Diastology and Contrast Echo & New Technologies Courses—currently his 15th annual course.  He is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine.   A Canadian by birth, Dr. Klein speaks fluent French and English. 

In addition to office visits, Dr. Klein also offers scheduled follow up virtual visits to select patients, through the Cleveland Clinic Express Care ® Online app. This platform allows patients to see their physician live, using their smartphone, tablet or computer.

Specialty Interests:  cardiovascular imaging (echocardiography, cardiac MR and computed tomography); pericardial diseases; restrictive cardiomyopathies; valvular heart disease; atrial fibrillation; and diastolic heart failure.

Number of Procedures Performed: Dr Klein reads well over 2000 echocardiograms per year and performs TEE and intraoperative echocardiogram for the interventional structural program. The pericardial center evaluates over 2100 patients per year of which Dr Klein sees the majority of patients. He is also heads the pericardiocentesis simulation program which trains the cardiology fellows and performs pericardiocentesis.

Success Rates: Cleveland Clinic is nationally and internationally renowned for the world’s best cardiovascular care. Success rates for specific procedures are available at: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/about-heart-vascular-institute/treatment-outcomes.aspx

Education and Training: Dr. Klein received his medical degree from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec after completing an undergraduate degree in microbiology and immunology, graduating with honors.  While in medical school, he received several scholarships and graduated in the top 10 percent of his class.  Dr. Klein completed his clinical training at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal.  He completed a Cardiology Residency from the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and a Research Fellowship from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.  He was appointed to Cleveland Clinic in 1989.

Research, Publications and Speaking:  In addition to his scholarships and academic achievements, Dr. Klein won the E.G.D. Murray Prize in Microbiology and Immunology as an undergraduate and has received multiple American Society of Echocardiography Outcomes Research Awards.

Dr. Klein has been course director and workshop leader at numerous medical specialty conferences focused on clinical trials, imaging modalities and clinical protocols, to name a few.  He currently serves as Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western University.  Dr. Klein was a member of the Lerner College of Medicine Admissions Committee.
He has been the principal investigator for multicenter clinical trials in atrial fibrillation (ACUTE I, ACUTE II, and CLOTS); studies in diastolic function (ADEPT); valvular heart disease (Anorexigens and Valve Disease); and catheter ablation and pulmonary vein flow (ROTEA).  He has published key articles in such prestigious journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, European Heart Journal, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.  He chaired the Writing Committee for the document entitled “American Society of Echocardiography clinical recommendations for multimodality cardiovascular imaging of patients with pericardial disease:  Endorsed by the Society for Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance and Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography.”

In June 2016, Dr. Klein was appointed President of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE).. He is now immediate Past President.  He has served on the Board of Directors of the ASE and has been the Chair of the Industry Relations Committee and Chair of the Guidelines and Standards Committee.  Dr. Klein is also on the Writing Committee for the National Board of Echocardiography and served on the Board of Advisors of Cardiovascular Credentialing International.  He serves as a peer reviewer for more than 15 professional journals and grades abstracts for the American College of Cardiology, the ASE, the American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology.

He has been an invited lecturer at many national and international symposia and conferences, speaking on topics related to his specialty interests.  Dr. Klein has authored or co-authored more than 280 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, co-authored 40 chapters in medical textbooks and published 430 abstracts.  He is a co-editor of 2 books entitled "Diastology: Clinical Approach to Diastolic Heart Failure." as well as "Clinical Echocardiography Review: A Self-Assessment Tool."  Dr. Klein completed  a 2nd edition of the "Clinical Echocardiography Review:  A Self-Assessment Tool."  He has been the director and co-director of the Annual Diastology and Valve Summit courses for the last 20 years. He is also section editor on pericardial diseases for ACC.org and Current Cardiology reports.

About Dr. Klein: "I am a people person and enjoy the patient interaction. I am delighted in helping patients of all ages get better. With my clinical and imaging skills, I like to make a difference on a day to day basis."

Leisure time activities:  Dr. Klein is an avid sportsman and enjoys playing ice hockey, cycling, spinning, hiking and plays many sports. He enjoys reading and traveling around the world.