Research themes

MCRC has a major ongoing commitment to cardiovascular research in the fields of:

  • Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI)
  • Innovation in percutaneous transcatheter cardiac therapeutics
  • Arterial function and dysfunction in health and disease, and in developing the concept of “ventriculo-vascular”  interaction
  • Coronary physiology
  • Cardiac computed tomographic (CT) imaging 
  • New therapies in cardiac surgery

 

Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI):

  • Active patient recruitment for the Medtronic CoreValve Australia-New Zealand Registry
  • Research into the use of novel imaging techniques pre and post TAVI
  • Evaluation of changes in cardiovascular haemodynamics and chamber structure and function
  • Assessment of the changes in functional class and patient reported quality of life following TAVI
  • Development of new valve delivery strategies
  • Front-line involvement in the evolution, design and development of first-in-man trials and translational research programmes including new valve therapies/protocols

Percutaneous transcatheter cardiac therapeutics:

  • New drug-eluting stent designs
  • Drug eluting stents in acute myocardial infarction and complex coronary anatomy
  • Intravascular ultrasound assessment of coronary stent dynamics
  • Antiplatelet and antithrombotic therapies in coronary interventions
  • Percutaneous catheter-based treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
  • Haemodynamic evaluation of indeterminate and intermediate severity coronary lesions
  • Radial artery access for complex coronary intervention

Arterial function and dysfunction in health and disease, and in developing the concept of “ventriculo-vascular” interaction:

  • Work on aortic pressure wave propagation, clinical applicability of assessment of arterial function and association of metabolic disorders with arterial properties
  • Association of metabolic disorders, especially diabetes and other insulin resistant states with arterial function

Coronary physiology:

  • The role of endothelium-derived factors in human coronary vascular control and determinants of metabolic vasodilation in cardiac and skeletal musculature
  • Arterial mechanical properties and their influence on coronary blood flow regulation. Coronary artery pressure and flow relationships in coronary artery disease

Cardiac computed tomographic imaging:

  • Translational research programmes investigating the appropriateness and applicability of new CT imaging technologies in cardiology
  • The role of dynamic cardiac CT imaging in the management of acute chest pain syndromes, including volume imaging with 320-multislice cardiac CT in assessing structural and functional coronary artery disease and myocardial perfusion
  • The use of cardiac CT imaging to reduce time to diagnosis in patients presenting to the emergency department with chest pain syndromes
  • Cardiac CT in the management of paediatric and adult congenital heart disease

New therapies in cardiac surgery:

  • Minimally invasive cardiac surgery with robotic assistance (especially mitral valve repair surgery)
  • Use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation
  • Mechanical support of the circulation