Dr Pierluigi Costanzo is a consultant for interventional and structural cardiology and the clinical lead for coronary intervention at Royal Papworth Hospital.

He undertakes a broad range of key-hole heart interventions, including complex coronary stenting either to relieve angina or in the context of acute coronary syndrome (heart attack). He also specialises in endovascular (mini-invasive) treatment of heart valve problems (i.e. TAVI and others).

Before starting his consultant post at Royal Papworth Hospital, he spent one year at Toronto General Hospital (Canada) to train in complex percutaneous coronary intervention, having been awarded the competitive British Cardiovascular Intervention Society training grant.

Following that, he was appointed as structural interventional fellow for one year at St Michael’s Hospital (Toronto, Canada). During this time he trained in TAVI and other structural procedures, having also the opportunity to participate in several pioneering heart valve procedures.

He graduated from medical school in Italy and then moved to England where he underwent general internal medicine, cardiology and interventional cardiology training in East Yorkshire, mainly working at Castle Hill Hospital (Cottingham). During this time he also obtained a Master of Science and MD research degrees, focusing on prevention of cardiovascular events, particularly in diabetic patients. He published several high impact research articles and won multiple investigator awards at the European Society of Cardiology and American College of Cardiology conferences.

Specialist Clinical Interests
  • General cardiology
  • Interventional cardiology
  • Structural cardiology

Research Interests
  • Structural heart valve intervention innovations
  • Long-term outcomes in coronary stenting
  • Cardiovascular prevention
  • Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
  • Evidence based medicine
Education and Training

2020 Certificate of Advanced Interventional and Structural Cardiology (University of Toronto, Canada)
2018 Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in General Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Interventional Cardiology (Yorkshire and Humber Deanery)
2018 Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), United States
2017 British Society of Echocardiography (BSE). Accreditation in Adult transthoracic echocardiography
2015 Doctor of Medicine research degree (MD) at University of York and Hull
2014 Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology (FESC)
2013 Master of Science (MSc) from University of York
2013 Member of Royal College of Physicians (MRCP)
2008 Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from University “Federico II” of Naples (Italy)

Current membership(s) of professional, national and regional bodies and university posts

General Internal Medicine (7068131)
British Cardiovascular Society
British Cardiovascular Intervention Society
Canadian Cardiovascular Society
British Society of Echocardiography
Fellow of the European Society of Cardiology
Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions (USA)
Editorial Board of Interventional Cardiology Review

Recent and Important Publications

Brown O*, Costanzo P*, Clark ALC, Sathyapalan T,  Hepburn D, Kilpatrik E, Atkin S. Relationship Between Body Mass Index and Glycated Hemoglobin toward Risk of All-cause, Causal Mortality and Cardiovascular Hospitalisation in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Cardiovascular Endocrinology and Metabolism. In print. 
*equal contribution

Costanzo P, Dzavik V. Coronary revascularization in advanced chronic kidney disease. Can J Cardiol. 2019;35:1002-1014

Ali A, Costanzo P, Hoye A. Proprotein Convertase Subtilisin/kexin type 9 Inhibition in Cardiovascular Prevention. Curr Pharm Des. 2018; 24:442-450

Pellicori P, Urbinati A, Zhang J, Joseph AC, Costanzo P, Lukaschuk E, Capucci A, Cleland JGF, Clark AL. Clinical and prognostic relationships of pulmonary artery to aorta diameter ratio in patients with heart failure: a cardiac magnetic resonance imaging study. Clin Cardiol. 2018; 41:20-27.

Costanzo P, Aznaouridis K, Hoye A, Alahmar A. GuideLiner-Facilitated Rotational Atherectomy in Calcified Right Coronary Artery: The "Child" Makes the Difference. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2016; 9(5) :e47-8

Pellicori P, Costanzo P. Betablockers in patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation. G Ital Cardiol (Rome). 2015 Nov;16:613-6. 

Costanzo P, Pellicori P, Hepburn D, Kilpatrick E, Zhang J, Clark AL, Cleland JGF, Atkin SA. The Obesity Paradox in Type II Diabetes Mellitus. Relationship of Body Mass Index to Prognosis. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2015 May; 162:610-8.

Perrone-Filardi P, Paolillo S, Costanzo P, Savarese G, Trimarco B, Bonow RO. The role of metabolic syndrome in heart failure. Eur Heart J. 2015;36:2630-4.

Costanzo P, Lai D, Atkin SA. Understanding the obesity paradox in type II Diabetes Mellitus. Current Cardiovascular Risk Reports 2015; 9:32

Pellicori P, Kallvikbacka-Bennett A, Khaleva O, Carubelli V, Costanzo P, Castiello T, Wong K, Zhang J, Cleland JG, Clark AL. Global longitudinal strain in patients with suspected heart failure and a normal ejection fraction: does it improve diagnosis and risk stratification? Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2014;30:69-79

Costanzo P*, Savarese G*, Cleland JG, Vassallo E, Ruggiero D, Rosano G, Perrone-Filardi P. A meta-analysis reporting effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in patients without heart failure. Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 2013;61:131-42
*equal contribution

Cleland JG, Clark AL, Costanzo P, Francis DP.  Diabetes, Aliskiren, and heart failure: let's bring ASTRONAUT down to Earth. Eur Heart J. 2013; 34:3097-9

Petretta M, Acampa W, Daniele S, Petretta MP, Nappi C, Assante R, Zampella E, Costanzo P, Perrone-Filardi P, Cuocolo A. Transient ischemic dilation in SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging for prediction of severe coronary artery disease in diabetic patients. Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. 2013;20:45-52

Savarese G, Paolillo S, Costanzo P, D'Amore C, Cecere M, Losco T, Musella F, Gargiulo P, Marciano C, Perrone-Filardi P. Do changes of 6-minute walk distance predict clinical events in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension? A meta-analysis of 22 randomized trials. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2012;60:1192-201

Costanzo P, Cleland JG, Atkin SL, Vassallo E, Perrone-Filardi P. Use of carotid intima-media thickness regression to guide therapy and management of cardiac risks. Current Treatment Options in Cardiovascular Medicine. 2012;14:50-6

Costanzo P, Cleland JG, Vassallo E, Perrone-Filardi P. Questioning the predictive role of carotid intima-media thickness. Future Cardiology. 2011;7:651-6.

Perrone-Filardi P, Dellegrottaglie S, Rudd JH, Costanzo P, Marciano C, Vassallo E, Marsico F, Ruggiero D, Petretta MP, Chiariello M, Cuocolo A. Molecular imaging of atherosclerosis in translational medicine. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging. 2011; 38:969-75.

Acampa W, Di Taranto MD, Morgante A, Salvatore B, Evangelista L, Ricci F, Costanzo P, de Sisto E, Filardi PP, Petretta M, Fortunato G, Cuocolo A. C-reactive protein levels are associated with paraoxonase polymorphism L55M in patients undergoing cardiac SPECT imaging. Scandinavian Journal of Clinical and Laboratory Investigations. 2011; 71:179-84.

Costanzo P, Perrone-Filardi P, Vassallo E, Paolillo S, Cesarano P, Brevetti G, Chiariello M. Does Intima-Media Thickness regression predict cardiovascular risk reduction? A meta-analysis of 41 randomized clinical trials. Journal of the American College of Cardiology; 2010; 56:2006-20.

Perrone-Filardi P, Costanzo P, Dellegrottaglie S, Gargiulo P, Ruggiero D, Savarese G, Parente A, D'Amore C, Cuocolo A, Chiariello M. Prognostic role of myocardial single photon emission computed tomography in the elderly. Journal of Nuclear Cardiology 2010;17:310-5.

Ferraro S, Paolillo S, Gargiulo M, Costanzo P, Maggio, Chirianni A, Chiariello M, Perrone-Filardi P. Effect of antiretroviral therapy on carotid intima-media thickness in HIV-infected patients. Italian Heart Journal 2009; 10:596-60

Petretta M, Costanzo P, Acampa W, Imbriaco M, Ferro A, Perrone-Filardi, Cuocolo A. Noninvasive assessment of coronary anatomy and myocardial perfusion: going toward an integrated imaging approach. Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine. 2008;10:977-86

Costanzo P, Prastaro M, Perrino C, Caiazzo G, Monda C, Guerra G, Iorio A, Gargiulo  P, Chiariello M, Perrone-Filardi P. Differences in Echocardiographic Assessment with Standard Doppler and Tissue Doppler Imaging of Left Ventricular Filling Pressure in Idiopathic and Ischemic Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Echocardiography. 2008; 7:683-91.

Spadafora M, Manganelli F, Mansi L, Ferrara P, Miletto P, Rosato G, Costanzo P, Cuocolo A. Radio-guided surgery for ventricular remodeling in patients with large post-infarction scars: a new tool to in vivo discriminate in vivo  viable myocardium and scar. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2009;138:241-3.

Petretta M, Costanzo P, Cuocolo A. Imaging Techniques for the Assessment of Coronary Flow Reserve. European Cardiology 2008;4:38

Perrone-Filardi P, Costanzo P, Cesarano P, Marzano A, Esposito G, Iannelli G, Chiariello M. Long abdominal aortic stenosis: a rare presentation of Takayasu arteritis treated with percutaneous stent implantation. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. 2007; 133:1647-8