Michael Freeman is a Clinical Research Fellow studying the interactions between scar after a heart attack and the development of dangerous abnormal heart rhythms. After a heart attack, scar in the heart muscle can disrupt the normal rhythm of the heart, putting patients at risk of collapse and sudden death. Some medications can reduce the risk bit the only way to prevent these deaths is to implant a device which can give a shock (a defibrillator). We would prefer a treatment which stopped these rhythms from happening in the first place. We know that the interaction between the scar and the heart muscle is crucial to determining when and how dangerous rhythms arise. Dr Freeman’s work will examine how this interaction could be tested objectively in patients to work out who is at high risk and why. We will look at the structure of the scar itself, but also the effect the scar has on the electrical activity. Through this we hope to develop better ways to identify those patients who really need a defibrillator and to improve treatments which modify scar-muscle interactions to reduce the occurrence of dangerous rhythms and so reduce the need for defibrillators.
Cara