Professor
Gianni Angelini
BHF Chair of Cardiac
Surgery
Bristol
Heart Institute
Professor Angelini and his team highlight
problems encountered in surgery, research them in the laboratory,
and apply solutions back into the operating theatre for the benefit
of patients.
Beating heart surgery
Most forms of heart surgery require the
patient’s chest to be opened and an artificial pump to take over
the work of their heart during the operation. This is a
traumatic event that takes a considerable time to recover
from. Surgeons are constantly seeking alternative, less
invasive approaches to repair damaged hearts.
Professor Angelini has pioneered a new
technique to keep the heart beating during heart bypass surgery,
avoiding the need for the artificial pump. Short-term, this
‘beating-heart surgery’ showed fewer post-surgery complications for
bypass patients and the team continue to assess the benefits longer
term for heart patients.
Improving surgery for babies
Angelini’s team is investigating how they
can improve operations to patch up the hole in the heart seen
in one in 500 newborns. These babies often have low blood
oxygen because of the heart defect, and the sudden increase in
oxygen level during surgery can cause injury to the organs. The
team are developing ways to regulate oxygen levels during the
procedure to give babies the best chance of a quick and complete
recovery after the operation.
Long term success of heart bypass
In collaboration with Bristol colleague BHF
Professor Andrew Newby, Professor
Angelini has been developing tools and techniques to prevent heart
bypass grafts from narrowing. One of these – a collar that
surrounds the graft – is currently in early clinical tests.
Stabilising diseased arteries
Healthy cells in the wall of blood vessels
are essential for stabilising the fatty plaques that can build up
in arteries. Professor Angelini’s team is studying how the
meshwork of proteins – and their breakdown – around and between
cells are important in prevent rupture of the fatty plaques.
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