Sérgio Barra , cardiologist at Hospital da Luz, concluded, last November 11, his doctorate degree in Medicine (speciality of Clinical Research and Health Services), at the Faculty of Medicine, Universidade do Porto (FMUP). His thesis was based on a research he conducted on patients with cardiac insufficiency , that were subject to resynchronization therapy, with or without defibrillator. The doctoral dissertation was the culmination of a research project developed between 2013 and 2018, when Sérgio Barra exercised in Cambridge (at the Royal Papworth Hospital, NHS Foundation Trust), which resulted in several publications in international scientific journals of high impact factor. Entitled “Cardiac resynchronization therapy with versus without defibrillator: selecting the patient of the procedure”, the thesis elaborated on patients with cardiac insufficiency directed to resynchronization therapeutics – a treatment indicated for patients where the cardiac contractility presents substantial electrical and mechanical dyssynchrony. In the research conducted, the benefits of an implantable defibrillator in this group of patients were studied, providing guidance on how to best identify those who may profit from this device. Sérgio Barra practices as cardiologist in the units of Hospital da Luz Arrábida, Porto and Guimarães. What is the use of the cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)? The cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) allows to reduce the risk of hospitalization for cardiac insufficiency, besides improving the quality of life for the patient and reducing the global risk of mortality; The CRT consists in the implantation of a device in the thorax, under the skin, in order to resynchronize the left ventricle, thus improving the functioning of the heart; The device can be implanted separately (CRT-P) or in association with a defibrillator (implantable cardioverter defibrillator, designated ICD or CRT-D). Since this device is more expensive and associated with a higher risk of complications, it is important to understand if it will actually bring prognostic benefits, when compared to the former device which is implanted separately. In the photo above, the new doctor and the jury: Luís Filipe Macedo (FMUP), José Silva Cardoso (FMUP), Sérgio Barra, Altamiro da Costa Pereira (director of FMUP and president of the jury) and Luís Azevedo (FMUP), who were present in the doctoral dissertation; up on the right, Fausto Pinto (director of the Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Lisboa) and below, Pedro Aragão (Faculty of Medical Sciences, Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and Lino Gonçalves (Faculty of Medicine, Universidade de Coimbra), who participated via video conference.
