Our consultants at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals are at the forefront of cardiac surgery. In addition to pioneering a range of minimally invasive procedures, our specialists look after the most complex cases.

Harefield Hospital was home to Europe’s first successful double heart and lung transplant and remains one of the top centres in the world for these transplant procedures.

What’s more, both Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals have been ranked as some of the world’s best for cardiac surgery by US Newsweek, the American weekly news magazine.

Keyhole heart valve repair and replacement

Our surgeons have recently developed new endoscopic (keyhole) surgical procedures to repair or replace a damaged aortic, mitral or tricuspid valve.

These procedures are an alternative to invasive open-heart surgery, allowing for quicker recovery time and less scarring.

Our keyhole heart valve repair and replacement service was the winner of the LaingBuisson ‘Innovation in technology’ award in 2023, recognising our advancements in this field.

Our other keyhole heart surgical procedures include:

Cardiac surgeons

Surgery for congenital heart disease

PEARS and ROSS-PEARS are complex surgical procedures for the treatment of congenital heart disease (birth defects of the heart) affecting the aortic valve and aorta. Both procedures were developed at our hospitals.

  • PEARS (personalised external aortic root support) utilises innovative 3D printing and imaging technologies to create a mesh modelled on the patient’s aorta. This is used to treat connective tissue disorders, like Marfan Syndrome, where the aorta becomes dilated.
  • Ross-PEARS is a combined surgical procedure to replace a damaged aortic valve with a patient’s own healthy pulmonary valve. A PEARS mesh is additionally added to provide support to the pulmonary valve in its new position.

 

Advanced coronary artery bypass graft procedures

We offer two advanced coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgical procedures at our hospitals.

Beating heart bypass

A beating heart bypass is an open-heart procedure that avoids temporarily stopping a patient’s heart and placing them on a heart-lung bypass machine during surgery (the traditional CABG approach).

A study on 10,000 patients at Harefield Hospital demonstrated improved surgical outcomes with a beating heart bypass procedure when compared to traditional CABG where the heart is temporarily stopped.

EndoACAB

This is a minimally invasive keyhole surgical procedure to perform CABG. It can reduce recovery times when compared to traditional open-heart CABG.

Ventricular assist devices (artificial hearts)

Our hospitals are also leading centres in the use of (VAD) technology. These devices work as an artificial heart pump to treat severe heart failure.

Discover our cardiac surgeons

Our consultants at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals are at the forefront of cardiac surgery. In addition to pioneering a range of minimally invasive procedures, our specialists look after the most complex cases