Cardiothoracic and Advanced Life Support

Contact

Dr Brijesh Patel
brijesh.patel@imperial.ac.uk 


What we do

We take a clinical translational approach to elucidate novel physiological and biological mechanisms of organ failure during critical illness, with the ultimate aim of improving the management and outcomes of patients admitted to critical care. We take clinically relevant observations and ask how they could be investigated further using experimental medicine approaches leading to novel understanding and future treatments.

The group focuses on advanced heart and lung failure especially those supported on extracorporeal technologies.

Our research

Why it is important

Critical illness is a state and critical care is an area in a hospital. patients fulfilling both are often defined by being on a ventilator or requiring multi-organ support. Whilst mechanical ventilation saves lives through supporting gas exchange, it can also lead to significant harm, and being in critical care for prolonged periods (chronic critical illness) exposes patients to other effects such as chronic organ dysfunction e.g. lung fibrosis, delirium, ICU acquired muscle wasting, all of which have life altering consequences.

How it can benefit patients

Our aim is to understand pinch points in care such that patients can be discharged from ICU appropriately earlier but also avoiding these longer term consequences. Patients requiring advanced critical care support are an example where these consequences occur more frequently and our vision is to better understand the clinical, biological and physiological trajectories and pathways that patients are exposed to, but also apply novel technologies at different stages to improve patient outcomes.

Summary of current research

Clinical informatics analyses

COVID-ICU: National Service Evaluation.

Ventilatory Clinical Decision Support

Open-Loop Weaning Algorithm for mechanical VEntilation: comparison of open-loop decision support system versus routine care in cardiothoracic patients. The WAVE study.

ECMO-BIOMARKER – Personalised physiological and biological approach to ARDS management

Understanding human-machine interface in extracorporeal circuits

Haemostasis and Immuno-Thrombosis in Extracorporeal Circuits (The HITEC study).

Understanding pulmonary immune responses during severe acute respiratory failure

Mechanisms of dysregulated pulmonary fibrosis in ARDS: opportunities for drug repurposing in COVID-19.

Neutrophil – endothelial necroptotic interactions and the propagation of inflammation.

Therapeutic targeting of necroptosis cell death pathways in COVID-19 ARDS: proof-of-principle.

Cell death programmes in the persistence and resolution of clinical ARDS.

Clinical trajectory and mechanisms in ICU acquired weakness.

Research repurposed for COVID-19:

AJRCCM publication highlighted in Blue Briefings:

Information

Funders and industry links

Funders

Industry links

  • Mermaid A/C, Denmark

 

Collaborators

Internal

  • Prof Ian Adcock, NHLI, ICL
  • Dr Phil Molyneaux, NHLI, ICL
  • Prof Aldo Faisal, Faculty of Engineering, ICL
  • Dr Yap Choon, Faculty of Engineering, ICL

External

  • Prof Danny McAuley, Queens University, Belfast, UK
  • Prof Stephen Rees, Aalborg University, Denmark
  • Dr Zudin Puthocheary, QMUL, UK
  • Dr John Prowle, QMUL, UK
  • Prof Stephen Harridge, King’s College London, UK
  • Dr Luigi Camporota, King’s College London, UK

 

Related centres

 

For patients

Clinical trials

Publications

Find all of Dr Patel's publications.

Researchers

Dr Brijesh Patel

Dr Brijesh Patel
Clinical Senior Lecturer in Cardiothoracic

Dr Kieran O’Dea

Headshot of Dr Kieran O'Dea

Dr Kieran O’Dea
Senior Lecturer in Translational Critical Care

Dr Sharon Mumby

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Dr Sharon Mumby
Research Associate

PhD Students

Dr Rhodri Handslip

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Dr Rhodri Handslip
Research Postgraduate