Venugopal Amula
No Rating Available
(Learn About Our Rating System)

Venugopal Amula, MD, MS

Languages spoken: Telugu, Hindi, English

Dr. Amula received his medical degree from Osmania Medical College, India. He also received a postgraduate degree in Pediatrics from Gandhi Medical College, India. He moved to the United States and completed his Pediatric residency at William Beaumont Hospital affiliated to Wayne State University in 2007. He completed a dual fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the University of Utah in 2012 and Pediatric Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center in 2014. Dr. Amula is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, and Pediatric Critical Care. He is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Primary Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Amula’s clinical interests include postoperative care of children with critical congenital heart disease. He is also interested in the inpatient management of children with cardiomyopathy including mechanical circulatory support and ventricular assist devices.

Dr. Amula’s research interests include outcomes of patients with congenital heart disease and quality improvement with a focus on resource utilization in the cardiac intensive care unit.

Specialties

Board Certification

American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Cardiology)
American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine)
Medical Council of India
National Board of Examinations (India)
American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)

Dr. Amula received his medical degree from Osmania Medical College, India. He also received a postgraduate degree in Pediatrics from Gandhi Medical College, India. He moved to the United States and completed his Pediatric residency at William Beaumont Hospital affiliated to Wayne State University in 2007. He completed a dual fellowship in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at the University of Utah in 2012 and Pediatric Cardiology at Duke University Medical Center in 2014. Dr. Amula is board certified in Pediatrics, Pediatric Cardiology, and Pediatric Critical Care. He is currently an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah and is the Medical Director of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at Primary Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Amula’s clinical interests include postoperative care of children with critical congenital heart disease. He is also interested in the inpatient management of children with cardiomyopathy including mechanical circulatory support and ventricular assist devices.

Dr. Amula’s research interests include outcomes of patients with congenital heart disease and quality improvement with a focus on resource utilization in the cardiac intensive care unit.

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Pediatrics -Associate Professor (Clinical)
Academic Divisions Critical Care
Board Certification
American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Cardiology)
American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Critical Care Medicine)
Medical Council of India
National Board of Examinations (India)
American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)

Education history

Professional Medical Medicine - Osmania Medical College M.D.
Post Graduate Training Pediatrics - Gandhi Medical College Postgraduate Studies
Residency Pediatrics - William Beaumont Hospital Resident
Fellowship Pediatric Critical Care - University of Utah Fellow
Fellowship Pediatric Cardiology - Duke University Medical Center Fellow
Graduate Training Clinical Research and Investigation - University of Utah M.S.C.I

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Beshish AG, Kwiatkowski DM, Sznycer-Taub N, Costello JM, Jergel A, Gillespie S, Cashen K, Asfari A, Batsis M, Buckley JR, Chlebowski MM, Flores S, Goldshtrom N, Migally K, Mills KI, Radman MR, Reddy C, Shutes B, Riley CM, Narasimhulu SS, Mueller D, Amula V, Venkitachalam R, Joy BF, Karki KB, Leopold SM, Schramm JE, Capone CA, Aydin SI, Bakar AM, Leong K, Kulikowska A, Wing S, Mastropietro CW, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Intensive Care Society (CoRe'PCICS) Investigator (2026). Hyperoxia During Neonatal Cardiopulmonary Bypass Is Associated With Worse Clinical Outcomes: A Multi-Institutional Study. Journal of the American Heart Association, 15(1), e045890.
  2. Amula (2025). Syndecan-1 As a Clinical Marker of Fluid Overload and Acute Kidney Injury. Pediatric critical care medicine,
  3. Flores S, Loomba RS, Mastropietro CW, Cheung E, Amula V, Radman MR, Kwiatkowski DM, Puente BN, Buckley JR, Allen KY, Karki KB, Chiwane S, Cashen K, Piggott K, Kapileshwarkar Y, Gowda KMN, Badheka A, Raman R, Zang H, Costello JM, Iliopoulos I, Collaborative Research From the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society Investigators (2025). Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation in Children with Pulmonary Atresia and Intact Ventricular Septum: Mortality and Associated Outcomes. Pediatric cardiology,
  4. Schäfer M, McFarland C, Amula V, Truong D, Lambert LM, Griffiths ER, Eckhauser AW, Husain SA, Hobbs R (2025). Volume-Outcome Relationship of Norwood Procedures: Insights from the National Pediatric Cardiology-Quality Improvement Collaborative Database. The Annals of thoracic surgery, 119(5), 1045-1052.
  5. Amula V, Radman M, Loomba RS, Kwiatkowski DM, Beshish A, Flores S, Bakar AM, Capone CA, Suguna Narasimhulu S, Pizzuto MF, Karki KB, Cashen K, Niu MC, Mastropietro CW, and the Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigators (2025). Electrocardiographic Changes at Presentation and Over Time in Children with Anomalous Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery: A Multicenter Analysis. Pediatric cardiology,
  6. Sunthankar SD, Hill KD, Jacobs JP, Baldwin HS, Jacobs ML, Li JS, Graham EM, Resheidat AM, Amula V, Bleiweis MS, Wald EL, Eghtesady P, Scott JP, Anderson BR, Swartz MF, Benscoter A, Ravekes W, Kannankeril P (2025). Reexploring the STRESS Trial: Subgroup Postoperative Outcomes Following Methylprednisolone for Infant Heart Surgery. Pediatric cardiology,
  7. Marrone TN, Amula V, Niu MC, Ou Z, Griffiths E (2024). ECG Abnormalities, Diastolic Blood Pressure, and Adverse Events After Systemic to Pulmonary Artery Shunt in Infants with Congenital Heart Disease. Pediatric cardiology,
  8. Puente BN, Mastropietro CW, Flores S, Cheung EW, Amula V, Radman M, Kwiatkowski D, Buckley JR, Allen K, Loomba R, Karki K, Chiwane S, Cashen K, Piggott K, Kapileshwarkar Y, Gowda KMN, Badheka A, Raman R, Costello JM, Zang H, Iliopoulos I, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigator (2024). Comparison of Ductal Stent Versus Surgical Shunt as Initial Intervention for Neonates with Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum. Pediatric cardiology,
  9. Buckley JR, Costello JM, Smerling AJ, Sassalos P, Amula V, Cashen K, Riley CM, Bakar AM, Iliopoulos I, Jennings A, Narasimhulu SS, Mastropietro CW, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society Investigators (2022). Contemporary Multicenter Outcomes for Truncus Arteriosus With Interrupted Aortic Arch. The Annals of thoracic surgery,
  10. Iliopoulos I, Mastropietro CW, Flores S, Cheung E, Amula V, Radman M, Kwiatkowski D, Puente BN, Buckley JR, Allen KY, Loomba R, Karki KB, Chiwane S, Cashen K, Piggott K, Kapileshwarkar Y, Gowda KMN, Badheka A, Raman R, Zang H, Costello JM, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society Investigators (2022). Pulmonary Atresia with Intact Ventricular Septum: Midterm Outcomes from a Multicenter Cohort. Pediatric cardiology,
  11. Cheung EW, Mastropietro CW, Flores S, Amula V, Radman M, Kwiatkowski D, Puente BN, Buckley JR, Allen K, Loomba R, Kakri K, Chiwane S, Cashen K, Piggott K, Kapileshwarkar Y, Gowda KMN, Badheka A, Raman R, Costello JM, Zang H, Iliopoulos I, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigators (2022). Procedural Outcomes of Pulmonary Atresia With Intact Ventricular Septum in Neonates: A Multicenter Study. The Annals of thoracic surgery,
  12. Hill KD, Kannankeril PJ, Jacobs JP, Baldwin HS, Jacobs ML, O'Brien SM, Bichel DP, Graham EM, Blasiole B, Resheidat A, Husain AS, Kumar SR, Kirchner JL, Gallup DS, Turek JW, Bleiweis M, Mettler B, Benscoter A, Wald E, Karamlou T, Van Bergen AH, Overman D, Eghtesady P, Butts R, Kim JS, Scott JP, Anderson BR, Swartz MF, McConnell PI, Vener DF, Li JS, STRESS Network Investigator (2022). Methylprednisolone for Heart Surgery in Infants - A Randomized, Controlled Trial. The New England journal of medicine, 387(23), 2138-2149.
  13. Radman M, Mastropietro CW, Costello JM, Amula V, Flores S, Caudill E, Karki K, Migally K, Narasimhulu S, Piggott K, Sassalos P, Wilhelm M, Moser EAS, Cashen K, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigators. (2021). Intermediate Outcomes After Repair of Anomalous Left Coronary Artery From the Pulmonary Artery. Ann Thorac Surg, 112(4), 1307-1315.
  14. Moza R, Truong DT, Lambert LM, Ou Z, Amula V, Eckhauser A, Minich LL, Williams RV (2021). Poor Weight Recovery Between Stage 1 Palliation and Hospital Discharge for Infants with Single Ventricle Physiology: An Analysis of the National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative Phase II Dataset. J Pediatr, 234, 20-26.e2.
  15. Weyhrauch DL, Truong DT, Pinto NM, Amula V, Lambert LM, Zhang C, Presson AP, Wilkes J, Minich LL, Williams RV (2021). Changes in Provider Prescribing Behavior for Infants with Single Ventricle Physiology After Evidence-Based Publications. Pediatr Cardiol, 42(5), 1224-1232.
  16. Bakar AM, Costello JM, Sassalos P, Amula V, Buckley JR, Smerling AJ, Iliopoulos I, Riley CM, Jennings A, Cashen K, Suguna Narasimhulu S, Narayana Gowda KM, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Slaven JE, Mastropietro CW, Collaborative Research from the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Society (CoRe-PCICS) Investigators. (2020). Multicenter Analysis of Truncal Valve Management and Outcomes in Children with Truncus Arteriosus. Pediatr Cardiol, 41(7), 1473-1483.
  17. Hill KD, Baldwin HS, Bichel DP, Butts RJ, Chamberlain RC, Ellis AM, Graham EM, Hickerson J, Hornik CP, Jacobs JP, Jacobs ML, Jaquiss RD, Kannankeril PJ, O'Brien SM, Torok R, Turek JW, Li JS, STRESS Network Investigator (2020). Rationale and design of the STeroids to REduce Systemic inflammation after infant heart Surgery (STRESS) trial. American heart journal, 220, 192-202.
  18. Hill KD, Baldwin HS, Bichel DP, Butts RJ, Chamberlain RC, Ellis AM, Graham EM, Hickerson J, Hornik CP, Jacobs JP, Jacobs ML, Jaquiss RD, Kannankeril PJ, O'Brien SM, Torok R, Turek JW, Li JS, STRESS Network Investigator (2020). Rationale and design of the STeroids to REduce Systemic inflammation after infant heart Surgery (STRESS) trial. American heart journal, 220, 192-202.
  19. McHugh KE, Mahle WT, Hall MA, Scheurer MA, Moga MA, Triedman J, Nicolson SC, Amula V, Cooper DS, Schamberger M, Wolf M, Shekerdemian L, Burns KM, Ash KE, Hipp DM, Pasquali SK, Pediatric Heart Network Investigators. (2018). Hospital Costs Related to Early Extubation After Infant Cardiac Surgery. Ann Thorac Surg, 107(5), 1421-1426.
  20. Buckley JR, Amula V, Sassalos P, Costello JM, Smerling AJ, Iliopoulos I, Jennings A, Riley CM, Cashen K, Suguna Narasimhulu S, Gowda KMN, Bakar AM, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Moser EAS, Mastropietro CW, Collaborative Research in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Investigators. (2019). Multicenter Analysis of Early Childhood Outcomes After Repair of Truncus Arteriosus. Ann Thorac Surg, 107(2), 553-559.
  21. Mastropietro CW, Amula V, Sassalos P, Buckley JR, Smerling AJ, Iliopoulos I, Riley CM, Jennings A, Cashen K, Narasimhulu SS, Narayana Gowda KM, Bakar AM, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Moser EAS, Costello JM. (in press). Characteristics and Operative Outcomes for Children Undergoing Repair of Truncus Arteriosus: A Contemporary Multicenter Analysis. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.
  22. Mastropietro CW, Amula V, Sassalos P, Buckley JR, Smerling AJ, Iliopoulos I, Riley CM, Jennings A, Cashen K, Narasimhulu SS, Narayana Gowda KM, Bakar AM, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Moser EAS, Costello JM, Collaborative Research in Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Investigators. (2019). Characteristics and operative outcomes for children undergoing repair of truncus arteriosus: A contemporary multicenter analysis. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 157(6), 2386-2398.e4.
  23. Amula V, Vener DF, Pribble CG, Riegger L, Wilson EC, Shekerdemian LS, Ou Z, Presson AP, Witte MK, Nicolson S (2019). Changes in Anesthetic and Postoperative Sedation-Analgesia Practice Associated With Early Extubation Following Infant Cardiac Surgery: Experience From the Pediatric Heart Network Collaborative Learning Study. Pediatric critical care medicine, 20(10), 931-939.
  24. Riley CM, Mastropietro CW, Sassalos P, Buckley JR, Costello JM, Iliopoulos I, Jennings A, Cashen K, Suguna Narasimhulu S, Gowda KMN, Smerling AJ, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Bakar A, Moser EAS, Amula (2019). Utilization of inhaled nitric oxide after surgical repair of truncus arteriosus: A multicenter analysis. Congenital heart disease, 14(6), 1078-1086.
  25. Furlong-Dillard J, Bailly D, Amula V, Wilkes J, Bratton S (2018). Resource Use and Morbidities in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients with Genetic Conditions. J Pediatr, 193, 139-146.e1.
  26. Brunetti MA, Gaynor JW, Retzloff LB, Lehrich JL, Banerjee M, Amula V, Bailly D, Klugman D, Koch J, Lasa J, Pasquali SK, Gaies M (2018). Characteristics, Risk Factors, and Outcomes of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation Use in Pediatric Cardiac ICUs: A Report From the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium Registry. Pediatr Crit Care Med, 19(6), 544-552.
  27. Furlong-Dillard JM, Amula V, Bailly DK, Bleyl SB, Wilkes J, Bratton SL (2017). Use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation and Mortality in Pediatric Cardiac Surgery Patients With Genetic Conditions: A Multicenter Analysis. Pediatr Crit Care Med, 18(9), 850-858.
  28. Amula V, Ellsworth GL, Bratton SL, Arrington CB, Witte MK (2014). Heterotaxy syndrome: impact of ventricular morphology on resource utilization. Pediatr Cardiol, 35(1), 38-46.
  29. Lee W, Riggs T, Amula V, Tsimis M, Cutler N, Bronsteen R, Comstock CH (2010). Fetal echocardiography: z-score reference ranges for a large patient population. Ultrasound Obstet Gynecol, 35(1), 28-34.

Review

  1. Saharan S, Vettukattil J, Bhat A, Amula V, Bansal M, Chowdhury D, Dyamenahalli U, Gupta SK, Das B, Susheel Kumar TK, Muralidaran A, Trivedi K, Swaminathan S, Bansal N, Doshi U, Hoskoppal A, Balaji (2022). Patent foramen ovale in children: Unique pediatric challenges and lessons learned from adult literature. Annals of pediatric cardiology, 15(1), 44-52.

Commentary

  1. Amula (2010). Extracorporeal Resuscitation in Childhood Cardiac Arrest Commentary. 24(4), 49.

Editorial

  1. Amula (2020). Developing Competency in Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound-Means Are As Important As the End. Pediatric critical care medicine, 21(12), 1098-1099.

Abstract

  1. Rohin Moza, Dongngan Truong, Linda Lambert, Zhining Ou, Venugopal Amula, Aaron Eckhauser, L. LuAnn Minich, Richard William (2020). POOR WEIGHT RECOVERY BETWEEN STAGE 1 PALLIATION AND HOSPITAL DISCHARGE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NPC-QIC PHASE II DATASET.
  2. Weyhrauch, D., Pinto, N., Truong, D.T., Amula, V., Lambert, L., Zhang, C., Presson, A., Wilkes, J., Minich, L. L. and Williams, R (2019). Changes in Digoxin and Angiotensin Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Use in Infants with Single Ventricle Physiology Following Landmark Publications. 73(9), 634.
  3. Mastropietro, CW, Amula V etal (2018). Epidemiology and Clinical Outcomes for Children Undergoing Repair of Truncus Arteriosus: A Contemporary Multicenter Analysis.
  4. Riley CM, Mastropietro CW, Sassalos P, Buckley JR, Costello JM, Iliopoulos I, Jennings A, Cashen K, Suguna Narasimhulu S, Narayana Gowda KM, Smerling A, Bakar AM, Wilhelm M, Badheka A, Moser EAS, Amula V (2018). Multicenter Analysis of Utilization of Inhaled Nitric Oxide in Patients Undergoing Repair of Truncus Arteriosus.
  5. Jason R. Buckley, Venu Amula etal (2018). Early Childhood Outcomes Following Repair of Truncus Arteriosus:A Contemporary Multicenter Analysis.
  6. Amula V, Ellsworth G,Bratton SL ,Arrington C, Witte (2012). Impact of ventricular morphology on resource utilization in children with heterotaxy.
  7. Amula V, Riggs T, Lee W, Cutler N, Bronsteen R, Comstock (2009). Fetal cardiac growth: Z scores from 3000 normal pregnancies.
  8. Amula V, Aggarwal S, L'Ecuyer T (2009). Therapeutic Role of Sildenafil in Perioperative Pulmonary Hypertension in Pediatric Heart Transplantation.