CARDIOTHORACIC SURGERY RESEARCH

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for more than 17.9 million deaths in the world every year (32% of all deaths), being the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The burden is increasing, and up to one third of the patients with CVD may require a surgical intervention. The role of surgical care in promoting global health is undeniable, and 11% of global disability adjusted life years could be treated with surgery.

Cardiothoracic Surgery has undergone a remarkable growth and expansion in the past decades, allowing research to focus on perioperative homeostatic disruption. Cardiothoracic surgery is always associated with a substantial perturbation of hemostasis, with a postoperative systemic inflammatory response syndrome that may lead to postoperative organ dysfunction. Understanding how organs and systems are affected by inflammation and homeostatic perturbation is essential to prevent postoperative organ dysfunction, and to explore new treatment strategies.

Our group is focused on the characterization of basic and cellular changes in tissues and organs induced by Cardiothoracic Surgery, and how these signatures correlate with the occurrence of postoperative organ dysfunction. We combine clinical investigation with the state-of-art physiologic, cellular and molecular unbiased technologies to identify signatures of tissue damage, aiming to develop innovative strategies and treatments to improve morbidity and mortality after Cardiothoracic Surgery.