Contact this Provider
410-554-2330
About Me
Rachel Marcus, MD, is a board-certified cardiologist at MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute, and the Interim Director of the Echo Labs at Union Memorial and Good Samaritan Hospitals. Her practice focuses on the use of echocardiogram procedures like transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) for the diagnosis of cardiovascular conditions such as coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease, congestive heart failure. She is a structural echocardiographer who helps guide the non-surgical valve repair and replacement procedures at Union Memorial Hospital. Through her work as the Medical Director of the non-profit Latin American Society of Chagas she has become an internationally recognized expert in Chagas disease, and provides consultation for both doctors and patients who have questions about this disease.
After receiving her medical degree from Stanford University School of Medicine, Dr. Marcus completed an internal medicine residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. She then went on to complete an internal medicine residency and a cardiovascular medicine fellowship at the Stanford University Medical Center.
Dr. Marcus is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.
Philosophy of Care
I strive to provide the best quality of care to all of my patients, including them as a partner in the decisionmaking process.
Conditions Treated
Abnormal ECG
Abnormal Stress Test
Acute Bacterial Endocarditis
Alcoholic Cardiomyopathy
Aortic Diseases
Aortic Valve Disorders
Aortic Valve Sclerosis
Atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis Of The Aorta
Athletic Heart Syndrome
Atrial Tachycardia
Atrioventricular Block
Autoimmune Pericarditis
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
Cardiac Angina
Cardiac Arrhythmias
Cardiac Insufficiency
Cardiac Risk Assessment
Cardiac Tumor
Cardiomegaly
Chagas Disease
Chest Pain
Cholesterol Disorders
Congestive Heart Failure
Coronary Artery Anomaly
Coronary Artery Calcification
Coronary Artery Fistula
Cyanotic Heart Disease
Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Double Outlet Right Ventricle Dorv
Dysautonomia
Dyspnea On Exertion
Edema
Exercise Intolerance
Familial Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Family History Of Heart Disease
Family History Of Sudden Cardiac Death
First Degree Heart Block
Genetic Cardiomyopathy
Giant Cell Myocarditis
Heart Disease In Women
Heart Health
Heart Murmur
Heart Problems
Heart Racing
Hypertension
Idiopathic Hypertrophic Subaortic Stenosis
Infiltrative Disorders Of The Heart
Left Bundle Branch Block
Left Heart Failure
Mitral Valve Regurgitation
Mitral Valve Stenosis
Mthfr Mutation
Myocardial Infarction
Myxoma
Orthopnea
Orthostatic Hypotension
Palpitations
Papillary Muscle Disease
Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia
Paroxysmal Tachycardia
Paroxysmal Ventricular Tachycardia
Partial Anomalous Pulmonary Venous Return Papvr
Peripheral Edema
Premature Atrial Contraction
Premature Beats
Preventative Cardiology
Pulmonary Valve Disorders
Pulmonary Valve Insufficiency
Pulmonary Valve Stenosis
Pulmonary Vein Stenosis
Pulmonary Veno-Occlusive Disease
Rheumatic Aortic Regurgitation
Rheumatic Aortic Stenosis
Rheumatic Diseases Of Pulmonary Valve
Rheumatic Fever
Rheumatic Heart Failure
Rheumatic Mitral Regurgitation
Rheumatic Mitral Stenosis
Right Bundle Branch Block
Right Heart Failure
Right Ventricular Hypertrophy
Secondary Hypertension
Subaortic Stenosis
Syncope
Valve Stenosis
Valvular Endocarditis
Valvular Heart Disease
Vasovagal Syncope
Ventricular Arrhythmia
Viral Cardiomyopathy
Education
Fellowship Program:Stanford University School of Medicine (2001)
Residency Program:Stanford University School of Medicine (1997)
Residency Program:Brigham and Women's Hospital (1996)
Medical School:Stanford University School of Medicine (1994)
Member of Medical Staff
MedStar Harbor Hospital
MedStar Good Samaritan Hospital
MedStar Union Memorial Hospital
MedStar Washington Hospital Center
Media
Videos
Rachel Marcus, MD - Cardiovascular Disease
Online Features
Dr. Marcus is one of seven physicicans that helped save the life of Steven Jones, the husband of Dr. Sandra Swain.
Publications
Marcus, R., Atwood, E. Atrial Fibrillation and Anticoagulation. Advances in Internal Medicine, Vol. 44, Chapter 9, 1999 Mosby.
Do, D., Marcus, R., Froelicher, VF., et al. Predicting Severe Angiographic Coronary Artery Disease Using Computerization of Clinical and Exercise Test Data. Chest 1998 114:1437–45.
Vagelos, R., Marcus, R., Atwood, JE. Signs, Symptoms, and Laboratory Abnormalities in Cardiovascular Disease. Hospital Medicine, Chapter 24 April 2000, Lippincott Press.
Prakash, M., Myers, J., Froelicher, VF., Marcus, R., et al. Diagnostic Exercise Tests on 4000 Consecutive Men. Am Heart J. 2001 142(1):127-35.
Prakash, M., Myers, J., Froelicher, VF., Marcus, R., et al. Clinical and Exercise Test Predictors of All-Cause Mortality: Results from >6000 Consecutive Referred Male Patients. Chest 2001 120(3):1003-13.
Shetler K., Marcus, R., Froelicher, VF., et al. Heart Rate Recovery: Validation and Methodologic Issues. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001 Dec; 38(7):1980-7.
Spin, JM., Prakash, M., Froelicher, VF., Partington, S., Marcus, R., et al. The Prognostic Value of Exercise Testing in Elderly Men. Am J Med. 2002 Apr. 15; 112(6):453-9.
Marcus RR., Kalisetti, D., Raxwal, V., et al. Early Repolarization in Spinal Cord Injury: Prevalence and Clinical Significance. J. Spinal Cord Med. 2002 Spring 25(1):33-38.
Prakash M, Raxwal V, Froelicher VF, Kalisetti D, Vieira A, O’Mara G, Marcus R, et al. Electrocardiographic Findings in Patients With Chronic Spinal Cord Injury. I Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2002 Aug;81(8):601-8
Kolasa, MW., Lee, JC., Atwood, JE., Marcus, R., Eckert, RE,. Relation of QTc Duration Heterogeneity to Mortality Following Orthotopic Heart Transplantation. Am J Cardiol. 2005 Feb 1;95(3):431-2.
Perez, MV., Dewey, FE., Marcus, R., Ashley, EA., et al. Electrocardiographic Predictors of Atrial Fibrillation. Am Heart J. 2009 Oct; 158(4):622-8
Kaplinski M, Jois M, Galson-Cardenas G, et al. Sustained Domestic Vector Exposure Is Associated With Increased Chagas Cardiomyopathy Risk but Decreased Parasitemia and Congenital Transmission Risk Among Young Women in Bolivia. Clin Infect Dis. (2015) 61 (6): 918-926.
Fu, K, Zamudio, R, et al. Association of caspase-1 Polymorphisms with Chagas Cardiomyopathy among individuals in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 50(4):516-523, July-Aug 2017.
Acquatella, H, Asch F, et al. Recommendations for Multimodality Cardiac Imaging in Patients with Chagas Disease: A Report from the American Society of Echocardiography in Collaboration with the InterAmerican Association of Echocardiography (ECOSIAC) and the Cardiovascular Imaging Department of the Brazilian Society of Cardiology (DIC-SBC). JASE January 2018 31(1): 3-25.
Castro, Y and Marcus, R. Epidemiology of Chagas Disease in the USA: High Risk Patient Populations for Screening. Curr. Trop. Med. Reports 12 Jan 2019
Marcus RR. Chagas Disease: It’s Not the Zebra You Think It Is. http://www.acc.org. April 9, 2019. Accessed [Insert Access Date]. https://auth.acc.org/ACCFederatedLogin/PostSP?SP=DI&target=http://edu.acc.org/diweb/catalog/item/eid/cpc159.
Echeverria, L, Marcus, R, Novick, G et al. WHF IASC Roadmap on Chagas Disease. Global Heart, 15(1), p.26
Marcus RR. A Latin American Immigrant With Cardiac Arrest. http://www.acc.org. Apr 14, 2020. Accessed [Insert Access Date]. https://www.acc.org/education-and-meetings/patient-case-quizzes/2020/04/13/09/12/a-latin-american-immigrant-with-cardiac-arrest.
Marcus RR. Poll: Chagas Disease in the United States. http://www.acc.org. Apr 14, 2020. Accessed [Insert Access Date]. https://www.acc.org/latest-in-cardiology/articles/2020/04/13/15/51/poll-chagas-disease-in-the-united-states.
Castro-Sesquen, Y, Saldana, A, Patino Nava, D, et al. Use of a Latent Class Analysis in the diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease in the Washington Metropolitan Area. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Aug 7:ciaa1101
Wheelock, A Sandhu S, Loskill A et al. Testing for Chagas disease in an at-risk population. J Card Fail. 2020 Sep 6:S1071-9164.
Echeverria L, Rojas, L Rueda Ochoa O, et al. Circulating Trypanosoma cruzi load and major cardiovascular outcomes in patients with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy: a prospective cohort study. Trop Med Int Health. 2020 Sep 10.
Zaidel, E, Forsyth C, Novick G, Marcus R, et al. Covid-19: implications for people with Chagas disease. Global Heart 2020;15(1):69.
Shehadeh, M, Barac, A, Marcus, R. Clinical Presentations of Chagas Cardiomyopathy. Case Rep Cardiol. 2020 Nov 3;2020:8884910
Poster:
Prevalence of Chagas Disease in Bolivian Immigrants to North America, Marcus, R, and Sanchez, J. ASTMH annual meeting 2013.