Allan L. Klein, MD, FRCP(C), FACC, FAHA, FASE, FESC

Section of Cardiovascular Medicine

Department of Cardiovascular Medicine

Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute

Cleveland Clinic

Allan Klein, MD is the 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 and Thoracic Institute. He is the medical director of the HVTI Unique Populations Center/Umbrella and Director of the Center for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pericardial Diseases.  He served as Director of CV Imaging Research for 24 years.  Dr. Klein is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiovascular medicine.  He is a past president of the American Society of Echocardiography and president of the National Board of Echocardiography.  He is also the Course Director for Valve Diseases, Structural Interventions, and Diastology/Imaging Summit—currently his 28th course.  A Canadian by birth, Dr. Klein speaks French and English.  

Specialty Interests: Cardiovascular imaging (echocardiography, cardiac MR and computed tomography); pericardial diseases; amyloidosis; valvular heart disease; atrial fibrillation; and Diastology

Number of Procedures Performed: Dr. Klein reads well over 2000 echocardiograms per year including stress echo and TEEs.  The pericardial center evaluates over 3000 patients per year of which Dr. Klein is the Director of the Pericardial Center.  

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 is on the executive committee for the Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute at the Cleveland Clinic.

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, JAMA, JAMA Cardiology, JAHA, JASE 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.” He published the RHAPSODY trial with Rilonacept in patients with recurrent pericarditis in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021 and long-term extension of RHAPSODY in JAHA in 2023. He published The Pericardium: International Expert Consensus on New Concepts and Recent Advances in Multi-Modality Cardiac Imaging in JACC imaging in 2024 and most recently was the Vice chair for the ACC Concise Clinical Guidance (CCG) on diagnosis and management of pericarditis published in JACC in 2025. He is currently the National PI for many pivotal clinical trials on Recurrent Pericarditis (MAVERIC, Ventyx and KPL-387). He also is the Lead Principal Investigator for RESONANCE Registry.

Dr. Klein was honored to serve as President of the American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) from June 2016 to June 2017 and now he is a 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 and ASE Nominations Committee. He was honored in 2023 as ASE mentor of the year.  Dr. Klein is also on the Board as well as Writing Committee for the National Board of Echocardiography and   was Secretary Treasurer, President-Elect and now President. He 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, ASE, American Heart Association, and the European Society of Cardiology.  He is often a Guest Editor for JACC, JASE, JACC imaging and Circulation imaging journals.

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 500 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, co-authored 61 chapters in medical textbooks and published 580 abstracts.  He is a co-editor of 2 books entitled "Diastology: Clinical Approach to Diastolic Heart Failure." 2^nd edition as well as "Clinical Echocardiography Review: A Self-Assessment Tool" 3^rd edition He has been the director of the Valve Disease, Structural Interventions and Imaging Summit courses for the last 28 years. He was section editor on pericardial diseases for ACC.org and now is section editor for pericardial diseases in Current Cardiology reports. He gave the Laennec

Educational Lecture for the AHA scientific sessions in 2024.

Leisure Time Activities:

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

Professional Highlights:

• Writing Chair, American Society of Echocardiography Clinical recommendations for Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging of Patients with Pericardial Disease - 2013
• Sole Speaker for the ASE Webinar “ASE Clinical Recommendations for Multimodality -2013
• Notification “In the Spotlight” column of the Cleveland Clinic Professional Staff Update - 2014
• Invited Visiting Professor at Mount Sinai Hospital for Anandi L. Sharma Visiting Professorship and Simon Dack, MD Memorial Lecture, Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction with live presentation at www.heart-talks.org - 2015
• Section Editor for Pericardial Disease for ACC.org. – 2016-22
• Keynote Speaker: “Constrictive Pericarditis in the 21^st Century” at the Portuguese Congress of Cardiology - 2016
• Elected President of the American Society of Echocardiography - 2017
• Keynote speaker as president of ASE in Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Scotland, India and Australia - 2018
• Guest Co-Editor for Progress in Cardiovascular Disease 2017; 59(4):325-26.
• Co-Editor of “Clinical Echocardiography Review:  A Self-Assessment Tool.” 2^nd edition.  Wolters Kluwer – 2017
• Presented with the ESC Life Achievement Award from the Working Group on Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases in Belgrade, Serbia
• National PI for the RHAPSODY Trial
• RHAPSODY trial published in NEJM in 2021
• Chair- Study on the Impact of CardiolRxTM on Recurrent Pericarditis
• North American Coordinating and Lead Principal Investigator for RESONANCE Registry
• AHA Laennec Clinician /Educator lecture 2024

Memberships:

• American Society of Echocardiography
• American Heart Association
• American College of Cardiology
• Royal College of Physicians of Canada
• Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography
• European Society of Cardiology

Awards and Honors:

• Fellowships: American College of Cardiology, Royal College of Physicians (Canada), American Society of Echocardiography, American Heart Association, European Society of Cardiology
• University Scholarship - 1976-1977
• E.G.D. Murray Prize in Microbiology and Immunology University Scholar - 1977
• J. W. McConnell Award University Scholarship (Phase 1A Medical School) - 1978-1979
• J. W. McConnell Award University Scholarship (Phase 1B Medical School) - 1979-1980
• University Scholarship - 1981
• Canadian Heart Foundation Research Fellowship - 1986-1988
• Finalist Canadian Cardiovascular Society Student's Presentation Award - 1988
• First Place ASE Outcomes Research Award - 1997-1998
• Abstract entitled “Assessment of Cardioversion Using TEE Multicenter Study (ACUTE I): Clinical Outcomes at 8 Weeks” was included in the ACC 2000 Meeting Highlights Session as Late Breaking Trial - 2000
• Mentor for the recipients of the Samuel J. Roessler Memorial Scholarship - 1999-2001
• Mentor for the recipients of the Am. Society of Echocardiography Fellowship Award - 2000-2001
• Publication of “Use of transesophageal echocardiography to guide cardioversion in patients with atrial fibrillation” in the New England Journal of Medicine - 2001
• Abstract entitled “Six-month follow up on patients undergoing a TEE-guided cardioversion from Afib:  the assessment of cardioversion using TEE (ACUTE) trial” was included in the AHA Scientific Sessions 2001 Highlight and ACCEL Online - 2001
• Publication of “Use of transesophageal echocardiography to guide cardioversion in patients with atrial fibrillation” in the New England Journal of Medicine was sited in Journal Watch Cardiology - 2002
• Mentor for the nominee of the American Society of Echocardiography Research Finalist Award - 2003
• Publication of “Pericarditis” in The Lancet - 2004
• Keynote Speaker: “New Advances in Echocardiography in Atrial Fibrillation" at the X World Congress of Echo & Cardiovascular Imaging Conference - 2006
• Publication of “The use of enoxaparin compared with unfractionated heparin for short-term antithrombotic therapy in atrial fibrillation patients undergoing transesophageal echocardiography-guided cardioversion:  Assessment of Cardioversion Using Transesophageal Echocardiography (ACUTE) II randomized multicenter study” in the European Heart Journal -2006
• Study findings of the ACUTE II were highlighted in the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Newsletter - 2007
• Study findings of the ACUTE II were highlighted in the Cleveland Clinic Annual Report - 2007
• Grand Rounds presentation at Massachusetts General Hospital on "New Advances in Echocardiography in Afib: What’s New in the LAA and Pulmonary Veins?" - 2007
• Co-Editor of “Diastology:  Clinical Approach to Diastolic Heart Failure.”  Saunders, Elsevier, Philadelphia - 2008
• Mention of the 11^th Diastology and New Echo Technologies Summit Featuring Contrast Echo Mini Symposium was cited in the March 2008 Cleveland Clinic OPSA Memo to Staff” 2008
• Mentor for the winner of the Laennec Young Clinician Award at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions - 2008
• New England Journal of Medicine book review for "Diastology: Clinical Approach to Diastolic Heart Failure" on May 7, 2009, issue - 2009
• Co-Editor of “Clinical Echocardiography Review:  A Self-Assessment Tool.” Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, Philadelphia - 2011
• CVN (Cardiosource Video Network) Interview Regarding the JACC Imaging Editorial Comment "Annular Velocities in Constrictive Pericarditis - Is it Time to Look Beyond the Annulus" -2011
• Author Video for JASE regarding “Role of Transesophageal Echocardiography Compared to Computed Tomography in Evaluation of Pulmonary Vein Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation (ROTEA Study)” - 2011
• Cleveland Clinic “Today’s Headlines” included a story entitled “Heart Failure Takes Bigger Toll on Men” that was Published on UPI.com (coauthor of abstract) - 2012
• Keynote Speaker: “Is Cardiac Imaging the New Stethoscope?” at the Canadian Cardiovascular Society - 2012
• Guideline Chair, American Society of Echocardiography Clinical Recommendations for Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging of Patients with Pericardial Disease - 2013
• Sole Speaker for the ASE Webinar “ASE Clinical Recommendations for Multimodality Cardiovascular Imaging of Patients with Pericardial Disease: A Guideline in Review” - 2013
• Notification “In the Spotlight” column of the Cleveland Clinic Professional Staff Update announced the recent appointment of Vice President of the ASE.  After a one-year term, president-elect and then president - 2014
• Invited Visiting Professor at Mount Sinai Hospital for Anandi L. Sharma Visiting Professorship and Simon Dack, MD Memorial Lecture, Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction with live presentation at www.heart-talks.org - 2015
• 13th Annual Tajik/Seward Lectureship, Cleveland Clinic HVI National Leadership and Diseases Center and IPU Development - 2015
• Section Editor for Pericardial Disease for ACC.org - 2016
• Keynote Speaker: “Constrictive Pericarditis in the 21^st Century” at the Portuguese Congress of Cardiology - 2016
• President of the American Society of Echocardiography – 2016-2017
• Notification in the Cleveland Clinic “Weekly Scoop:  News from the Chief of Staff” 5 Questions section on providing a one-stop-shop for patients with pericardial disease - 2017
• Physician’s Weekly article, “Key Concepts in Managing Complicated Pericarditis” - 2017
• Guest Co-Editor for Progress in Cardiovascular Disease 2017;59(4):325-26
• Presented with the ESC Life Achievement Award from the Working Group on    Myocardial and Pericardial Diseases in Belgrade, Serbia -2018
• Presented the 29th Edler lecture, “Dermatology of the Heart: Tales from the Pericardial Sac,” at the American Society of Echocardiography Scientific Sessions-2018

• National PI for the RHAPSODY trial
• Listed as “HVI Physicians Ranked in the Top 100,000 Scientists (Top 1%) in the World.”  This was noted in the September Cleveland Clinic Professional Staff Update- 2019
• ASE 2023 mentorship award
• Co-Editor of “Clinical Echocardiography Review:  A Self-Assessment Tool.” 3^rd Edition. Wolters Kluwer - 2014
• PBS News Special; Medical Stories “Out of Nowhere- Recurrent Pericarditis 2024
• Outcomes and Health Care Utilization Associated with the Use of Corticosteroids           
•  in patients with Recurrent Pericarditis grant 2024
• AHA initiative on recurrent pericarditis learning collaborative 2024
• AHA Laennec Clinician /Educator lecture 2024
• Podcast Texas Heart Institute ”Exploring Pericarditis with Dr. Allan L. Klein: Diagnosis, Challenges, and Clinical Insights”                                              2024
• Vice Chair ACC Concise Clinical Guideline on Pericarditis 2025
• Medicine Grand Rounders Podcast CCF –Pericarditis with Dr. Allan Klein, moderated by Abdel Hadi El Hajjar, Episode 17, Links:Website: http://cle.clinic/3R6A85H Spotify: https://bit.ly/3QIcDQh  2025

Innovations

• Dr. Klein has pioneered the use of transesophageal-guided cardioversion in patients with atrial fibrillation in his landmark paper in the New England Journal of Medicine published in 2001 and the European Heart Journal in 2006.  He directs one of the largest pericardial centers in the world which evaluates complex patients with different pericardial diseases. He led the RHAPSODY Trial for recurrent pericarditis and published it in New England Journal of Medicine in 2021 and JAHA in 2024. He was the Vice Chair ACC Concise Clinical Guideline on Pericarditis published in JACC in 2025.

Additional Training: Leading in Health Care Business Program at the CCF, Leadership Training with the ASE (Tecker International), Cleveland Clinic HVTI Personal Healthcare Leadership Development Series