Meet the team: TAVI
The TAVI team consists of a number of experienced consultants who have chosen to specialise in the fields of cardiology, cardiac surgery, cardiac anaesthesia and cardiac imaging. All have a specialist interest in TAVI. Also present during the procedure is the catheter lab sister and her staff. The team meetings and co-ordination of the patient work-up is organised by the TAVI nurse specialist.
Consultants
Prof Nick Curzen
Prof Curzen has a special interest in coronary and aortic valve intervention and is involved in intervention training at a national and European level. He has an active research interest and co-edited The Oxford Textbook of Interventional Cardiology.
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Dr Alison Calver
Dr Calver has an interest in general and interventional cardiology, trans-oesophageal echo and pacing. She is the clinical lead for the percutaneous aortic valve implantation programme and chairs the specialist training committee in cardiology.
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Dr John Rawlins
Dr Rawlins has an interest in interventional cardiology and cardiomyopathy.
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Dr Dhrubo Rakhit
Dr Rakhit is a specialist in all types of echocardiography including 3D echo, tissue doppler, stress and contrast echo, transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE) and optimisation echo for patients with pacing devices. He established the digital archiving system for echo at the Trust.
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Dr Benoy Shah
Dr Shah is a cardiologist with a special interest in echocardiography and heart valve disease.
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Mr Geoff Tsang
Mr Tsang is a highly regarded adult cardiac surgeon with a special interest in both aortic and mitral valve repair, transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), atrial fibrillation surgery and aortic surgery.
Mr Sunil Ohri
Mr Ohri has trained in all aspects of adult cardiac surgery and introduced off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting at Southampton. He has contributed to the growing academic standing of the department by supporting both clinical and basic science research.
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Dr Paul Diprose
Dr Diprose has worked for the Trust since February 2006. He completed his anaesthesia training in Wessex and New Zealand.
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Dr Stephen Harden
Dr Harden’s experience and special interest is in adult and congenital cardiac MRI, particularly stress imaging for ischaemia. He is part of the Trust's PET/CT reporting team with a special interest in thoracic and cardiac CT and lung cancer imaging.
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Nurse specialists
Natalie Dawson
As the TAVI specialist nurse, Natalie co-ordinates and plans the pathway and care of TAVI patients. She brings the team together on a weekly basis in a multi-disciplinary team meeting to assess new referrals and review completed work-ups. Natalie is the first point of contact for patients.
Wendy George
As the senior sister, Wendy manages the cardiac catheter labs. She has a pivotal role within the team as ‘chief crimper’ and takes responsibility for the entire preparation and crimping of the TAVI valve.
Dan McGrath
Dan works alongside the specialist nurse to co-ordinate the care of TAVI patients. He works closely with our consultants in the TAVI clinic, aiming to ensure that everyone leaves the clinic with an understanding of the outcome of their tests and the plan for their future care. Shared decision making (ensuring that individuals are supported to make decisions that are right for them) between the patient and clinician is at the heart of this clinic.