Sai Bhagra completed his undergraduate training in Bangalore, India, graduating in 2001. He undertook postgraduate training in general medicine in the West of Scotland, followed by a two-year period of heart failure research at the Golden Jubilee National Hospital, Glasgow (2007-09). His higher specialist training in cardiology was in Northern Deanery (2009-15) where he completed subspecialty training in advanced heart failure, mechanical circulatory support and cardiac transplantation at the Freeman Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. During this time, he obtained accreditation with the Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (level 3, 2015), and the British Society of Echocardiography for transoesophageal echocardiography (2014).

Following completion of cardiology training he took up position as Ted Rogers Clinical Fellow in Advanced Heart Failure at Toronto General Hospital (University of Toronto, 2015-16). During this period, he worked as part of the multi-disciplinary team in one of the largest Canadian transplant and MCS centers. He established a protocol for the management of patients with cardiac sarcoidosis and was involved in the development of a heart transplantation media resource for patients and families.

He was shortlisted for the Philips Caves Award at the 2015 annual meeting of the International Society of Heart and Lung transplantation for his research into long term changes in the aortic root and left ventricular dimensions in patients supported with the HeartWare LVAD. In 2016, Sai was awarded the Transplant Registry Early Career Award by the International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation in Washington DC for examining the impact of pre-transplant mechanical circulatory support in the development of coronary allograft vasculopathy.

On return from Toronto, Sai was appointed as consultant cardiologist with specialist interests in advanced heart failure and transplantation at Royal Papworth Hospital in 2016.
 

Specialist Clinical Interests

Advanced Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support, Cardiac Transplantation, Cardiac MRI

Research Interests

Coronary allograft vasculopathy, long term outcomes post durable LVAD

Education and Training

ed Rogers Clinical Fellow in Advanced Heart Failure, MCS and Cardiac Transplantation, July 2015 – September 2016, Toronto, Canada
Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance (SCMR) – Level 3 Accreditation, January 2016
British Society for Echocardiography – Transoesophageal Echocardiography Accreditation, August 2015
CCT in Cardiology, UK, March 2015
Post Graduate Certificate in Clinical Transplantation (Distinction), Newcastle University, UK, September 2014
MRCP (UK), July 2006
MBBS, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India, July 2001

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

General Medical Council, UK. Full Registration No.6058086.
Member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow
Member of the British Cardiovascular Society
Member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Member of the British Society for Heart Failure
Member of the Society of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance

Recent Publications

F Foroutan, G Guyatt, C Otto, R Siemieniuk, S Schandelmaier, T Agoritsas, P Vandvik, S Bhagra, R Bagur. Structural valve deterioration after transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Heart. 2017 Dec;103(23):1899-1905.

F Foroutan, G Guyatt, K O’Brien, E Bain, M Stein, S Bhagra, D Sit, R Kamran, Y Chang, T Devji, H Mir, V Manja, T Schofield, R Siemieniuk, T Agoritsas, R Bagur, C Otto, P Vandvik. Prognosis after surgical bioprosthetic aortic valve replacement in patients with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis: Systematic review of observational studies. BMJ. 2016 Sep 28;354: i5065.

Bhagra C, Bhagra SK, Butt T, Donado A, Forrest L, MacGowan G, Parry G. Pregnancy in cardiac transplant recipients. Clin Transplant. 2016 Sep;30(9):1059-65.

Bhagra S, Bhagra C, Ozlap F, Butt T, Ramesh B.C, Parry G, Roysam C, Woods A, Robinson - Smith N, MacGowan G, Schueler S. Development of de novo aortic valve incompetence in patients with the continuous flow HeartWare® ventricular assist device. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2016 Mar;35(3):312-319.

Fazal I, Bhagra SK, Bailey K, Neely D, MacGowan G, Skinner J. Impact of using different guideline recommended serum natriuretic peptide thresholds on the diagnosis and referral rates of a diagnostic heart failure clinic.  Int J Clin Pract. 2015 Nov;69(11):1349-56.

Dalzell JR, Bhagra SK, Bhagra CJ, Gardner RS. Bridging to heart transplantation with 128 days of intra-aortic balloon pump support. Am J Med. 2014 Nov;127(11): e9-e10.

Ozlap F, Bhagra S, Bhagra C, Butt T, Ramesh B, Robinson-Smith N, Wrightson N, Parry G, Griselli M, Hasan A, Schueler S, MacGowan GA. Four-year outcomes with third -generation centrifugal left ventricular assist devices in an era of restricted transplantation. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2014 Sep;46 (3):e35-40.

Macdonald MR, Connelly DT, Hawkins NM, Steedman T, Payne J, Shaw M, Denvir M, Bhagra S, Small S, Martin W, McMurray JJ, Petrie MC. Radiofrequency ablation for persistent atrial fibrillation in patients with advanced heart failure and severe left ventricular systolic dysfunction: a randomised controlled trial. Heart. 2011 May;97(9):740-7.

Macdonald MR, Eurich DT, Majumdar SR, Lewsey JD, Bhagra S, Jhund PS, Petrie MC, McMurray JJ, Petrie JR, McAlister FA, McAlister FA. Treatment of Type 2 diabetes and outcomes in patients with heart failure: A nested case control study from the United Kingdom general practice research database. Diabetes Care. 2010 Jun;33(6):1213-8.

MR MacDonald, PS Jhund, MC Petrie, JD Lewsey, NM Hawkins, S Bhagra, N Munoz, F Varyani, A Redpath, J Chalmers, K MacIntyre and JVV McMurray. Discordant Short- and Long-Term Outcomes Associated With Diabetes in Patients With Heart Failure: Importance of Age and Sex. A Population Study of 5.1 Million People in Scotland. Circ Heart Fail. 2008 Nov;1(4):234-241.