Mr De Silva returned to Royal Papworth Hospital after practicing as a consultant in Oxford University Hospital for 4 years. He had previously spent 6 years training at Papworth, and so came back to a familiar environment in which he is able to pursue his clinical and research interests.

Mr De Silva has considerable expertise in adult cardiac surgery, with a particular interest in surgery of the aorta,  minimal access surgery,  aortic valve repair surgery, hybrid and off pump revascularization. He has a keen interest in education and training, and since 2019 has been the Director of the East of England cardiothoracic training programme which is recognised as the best surgical training programme in the UK for the last 3 years.  He has published widely, and has particular research interests in the inflammatory effects of cardiopulmonary bypass, the pathogenesis of nitric oxide in cardiovascular disease, and safety in cardiac surgery.

Specialist Clinical Interests
  • Aortic and aortic valve surgery
  • Total arterial revascularization
  • Minimally invasive aortic valve surgery
  • Minimally invasive coronary revascularization and hybrid revascularization.
  • Off pump coronary artery bypass grafting
Research Interests

Mr De Silva’s Masters thesis was the result of 2 years dedicated research looking into the inflammatory effects of cardiopulmonary bypass. He has also published widely on safety in cardiac surgery, novel techniques for improving vein graft patency, and has collaborations with other research institutions.


 

Education and Training

The Medical College of St Bartholomew’s Hospital
Research Fellow, Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
East of England Cardiothoracic Rotation
Fellowship in Cardiothoracic Transplantation, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Australia
Qualifications - BSc, MBBS, MRCS, Master of Surgery, FRCS(C.th)

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

Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh.
Member of the General Medical Council (registration number: 4334905).

Society for cardiothoracic surgery GB and Ireland

Recent and Important Publications

Saad H, Coleman J, De Silva R. Surgical ventricular restoration. Multimed Man Cardiothorac Surg. 2020 Feb 25;2020. doi: 10.1510/mmcts.2020.006. PMID: 32191403 

Rana BS, Robinson S, Francis R, Toshner M, Swaans MJ, Agarwal S, de Silva R, Rana AA, Nihoyannopoulos P. Tricuspid regurgitation and the right ventricle in risk stratification and timing of intervention. Echo Res Pract. 2019 Mar 1;6(1):R25-R39. doi: 10.1530/ERP-18-0051. PMID: 30763278 Free PMC article. Review. 

Wallwork K, Ali JM, Abu-Omar Y, De Silva R. Does liver cirrhosis lead to inferior outcomes following cardiac surgery? Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2019 Jan 1;28(1):102-107. doi: 10.1093/icvts/ivy221. PMID: 30052992 Review. 

Jayaram R, Jones M, Reilly S, Crabtree MJ, Pal N, Goodfellow N, Nahar K, Simon J, Carnicer R, DeSilva R, Ratnatunga C, Petrou M, Sayeed R, Roalfe A, Channon KM, Bashir Y, Betts T, Hill M, Casadei B. Atrial nitroso-redox balance and refractoriness following on-pump cardiac surgery: A randomised trial of atorvastatin. Cardiovasc Res. 2020 Oct 24:cvaa302. doi: 10.1093/cvr/cvaa302. Online ahead of print. PMID: 33098411

Antonopoulos AS., Margaritis M., Coutinho P., Shirodaria C., Psarros C., Herdman L., Sanna F., De Silva R., Petrou M., Sayeed R., Krasopoulos G., Lee R., Digby J., Reilly S., Bakogiannis C., Tousoulis D., Kessler B., Casadei B., Channon KM., Antoniades C.   Diabetes 2015;64:2207-2219
Demographic change in UK Cardiothoracic Surgery in the era of public outcome reporting. Westaby S, Baig K, De Silva R, Unsworth-White J, Pepper J. Adiponectin As A Link Between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus And Vascular NADPH-Oxidase Activity In The Human Arterial Wall: The Regulatory Role Of Perivascular Adipose Tissue. EJCTS 2015; 47(4):679-683
Surgeon specific mortality data are misleading and harmful. De Silva R. British Journal of Cardiology 2015; 22:132-133

Antonopoulos AS, Margaritis M, Coutinho P, Digby J, Patel R, Psarros C, Ntusi N, Karamitsos TD, Lee R, De Silva R, Petrou M, Sayeed R, Demosthenous M, Bakogiannis C, Wordsworth PB, Tousoulis D, Neubauer S, Channon KM, Antoniades C. Reciprocal effects of systemic inflammation and brain natriuretic peptide on adiponectin biosynthesis in adipose tissue of patients with ischemic heart disease. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2014 Sep;34(9):2151-9

Mahmod M, Francis JM, Pal N, Lewis A, Dass S, De Silva R, Petrou M, Sayeed R, Westaby S, Robson MD, Ashrafian H, Neubauer S, Karamitsos TD. Myocardial perfusion and oxygenation are impaired during stress in severe aortic stenosis and correlate with impaired energetics and subclinical left ventricular dysfunction.  J Cardiovasc Magn Reson. 2014 Apr 29;16:29.

Mahmod M, Bull S, Suttie JJ, Pal N, Holloway C, Dass S, Myerson SG, Schneider JE, De Silva R, Petrou M, Sayeed R, Westaby S, Clelland C, Francis JM, Ashrafian H, Karamitsos TD, Neubauer S. Myocardial steatosis and left ventricular contractile dysfunction in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2013 Sep;6(5):808-16.

Mahmod M, Bull S, Suttie JJ, Pal N, Holloway C, Dass S, Myerson SG, Schneider JE, De Silva R, Petrou M, Sayeed R, Westaby S, Clelland C, Francis JM, Ashrafian H, Karamitsos TD, Neubauer S. Myocardial steatosis and left ventricular contractile dysfunction in patients with severe aortic stenosis. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2013 Sep;6(5):808-16.

De Silva RJ, Gallo A, Westaby S. Cannulation techniques for temporary right and left ventricular support: simple solutions for a difficult problem. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg. 2012 Oct;42(4):728-30.

Abah U, Garfjeld Roberts P, Ishaq M, De Silva R. Is cold or warm blood cardioplegia superior for myocardial protection?  Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2012 Jun;14(6):848-55

De Silva RJ, Soto C, Spratt P. Extra corporeal membrane oxygenation as right heart support following left ventricular assist device placement: a new cannulation technique. Heart Lung Circ. 2012 Apr;21(4):218-20.

Tapping CR, Gallo A, De Silva RJ, Uberoi R. A close cut: a technical report of endovascular removal of a penetrating intravascular foreign body after a lawn mowing injury. Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2012 Dec;35(6):1496-9

Rossi M, Gallo A, De Silva RJ, Sayeed R.What is the optimal timing for surgery in infective endocarditis with cerebrovascular complications?  Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2012 Jan;14(1):72-80.

De Silva RJ, Bhinda P, Goddard M, Choong CK. The value of post mortems in cardiac surgery: learning from the dead. Heart Lung Circ. 2012 Mar;21(3):150-3

De Silva RJ, Armstrong J, Bottrill F, Goldsmith K, Colah S, Vuylsteke A. A lipopolysaccharide adsorber in adult cardiopulmonary bypass: a single centre randomised controlled pilot trial. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg. 2010 Jul;11(1):86-92