Young hearts for life

The Research team at the CRY Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions and Sports Cardiology

Photo: The research team from CRY Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions and Sports Cardiology with Dr Elijah Behr (far left) and Professor Sanjay Sharma (far right).

In 2010 the CRY Centre for Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions and Sports Cardiology was launched at St George’s Hospital in Tooting, London.

This multi-disciplinary centre dedicated to young sudden cardiac death operates under the direction of Professor Sanjay Sharma, Professor of Inherited Cardiovascular Conditions and Sports Cardiology at St George’s Hospital. For the first time it brings together expertise in general population screening, sports cardiology and inherited cardiovascular disease.

The specialist inherited cardiovascular disease services are managed by Professor Sharma and Dr Elijah Behr (Senior Lecturer and Honorary Consultant Cardiologist and heart rhythm specialist) who have a team of specialist registrars, nurses and physiologists to provide the fast track referral for NHS patients after a young sudden death or when a young person is affected by a cardiovascular condition.

To find out more about the launch please visit: http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/st_georges_launch.htm

The research team in the photo are (Left to right in the photo.):

Dr Saqib Ghani

Dr Hariharan Raju

Dr Nabeel Sheikh

Dr Martina Muggenthaler

Dr Michael Papadakis

Dr Navin Chandra

Dr Sabiha Gati

Dr Abbas Zaidi

Dr Rachel Bastiaenen

For more information on the CRY research fellows and what they do, visit: http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/research_grants.htm

Introducing CRY’s Research Programme with Professor Sanjay Sharma

CRY’s cardiac research programme is overseen by Professor Sanjay Sharma BSc (Hons), MD, FRCP (UK), FESC. Sanjay is Professor of Inherited Cardiovascular Disease and Sport Cardiology at St George’s Hospital, London; and Medical Director of the Virgin London Marathon.

The research programme has focused on the structural and electrical functioning of the heart and how it responds to exercise. It has identified the upper limits of left ventricular wall thickness and cavity size in adult and adolescent British athletes to facilitate the differentiation between pathology (disease) from physiology (cardiac adaptation to exercise). This differentiation can be challenging for cardiologists and is crucial when screening young athletes since incorrect interpretation has the potential for serious consequences.  Furthermore the research programme has been important in understanding what is normal. It has devised normal upper limits for cardiac dimensions in athletes and characterised ECG changes in athletes in a document that is now regarded as the blueprint for the European Society of Sport Cardiology.  Apart from diagnostics, the research has also identified the prevalence of conditions such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) in athletes. This includes recently identifying conditions such as long QT syndrome as more common than HCM.  The research team is also the first to have looked at cardiac adaptation for Caribbean athletes who differ from Caucasian athletes in the way they adapt to exercise.