Best cardiac surgeons: TOP 430 doctors

Dr. Lucia Torracca is leading the Cardiac Surgery Unit at Humanitas Research Hospital. She received her training at Ospedali Civili di Brescia and at Ospedale San Raffaele with Professor Ottavio Alfieri, were she improved her knowledge in the mitral disease focusing in the reparative and preservative approaches. At the same institution she led the minimal invasive and robotic division before moving to Ospedali Riuniti Di Ancona to be chief of the Cardiac Surgery Complex Unit. Dr. Torracca has performed more than 55 hundred cardiac surgeries. Thanks to her surgical and academic curriculum, she has been an active member of the steering committee of the European Society editing Guidelines for the treatment of heart diseases.

Together with her team in Humanitas, she can approach every cardiac disease affecting adults, especially focusing on the minimal invasive approach to reparative valve disease. State of the art technologies are regularly explored and implemented in the Open Heart dedicated Operating Room and Intensive Care Unit to ensure best outcomes, shorter hospital stay and fewer surgical complications.

The surgical expertise of Dr. Torracca go from open heart circulatory-arrest procedure to off-pump and/or trans-catheter procedures (MitraClip or TransApical Aortic Valve Implants).

Dr. Torracca and her team can claim the highest rate of mitral valve repair in Bi-leaflet prolapse (Barlow Disease) hitting almost 99% of conservative approach in minimal invasiveness at the time of surgery, maintaining >95% success rate at long term follow up: this option is further advantageous in the youngest patient population allowing restrain from anticoagulation therapy and perfectly normal quality of life.

Author or co-author of 151 publications in national and international scientific journals.

Dr. Bernhard Reimers – Clinical and Invasive Cardiology Unit Director in Humanitas Research Hospital, was born in Germany. He graduated in medicine and surgery in University of Padua (Italy) in 1990, followed by specialization in Cardiology. During the first 3 years of specialization in Cardiology in the Coronary Unit of Padua University, his particular interests were in managing cardiovascular urgency and critical patients, including management of fans, balloon pump, hemofiltration, temporary pacing, placement of central venous pathways and Swan-Ganz catheter. He spent his last year of specialization at the Hemodynamics of Casa di Cura Columbus (Milan), where he acquired his knowledge on the main diagnostic techniques he uses. After a short period of study at the Thoraxcenter of Rotterdam, during which he wrote his first scientific publications, Dr. Reimers has dedicated himself to hemodynamics and cardiovascular surgeries, working as Unit Director main assistant, executing angioplasty, coronary and peripheral procedures, reaching complete autonomy in coronary stenting, atherectomy, ultrasound intravascular and intracoronary doppler.

Since September 1997 he has managed and developed the diagnostic and interventional cardiovascular program at the Department of Cardiology of Mirano (Venice), where, thanks to his achievements, since 2000 the highest number of coronary angioplasties were performed. In 2006 the Unit has performed 975 coronary angioplasties (including 125 primary), more than 400 carotid angioplasty and peripherals. Dr. Reimers became Unit Director and has trained and taught a young team of interventional cardiologists, including 4 completely independent in the performance of coronary angioplasty, which manages both hemodynamics and largely the CCU in close collaboration between the two services. After this important experience, he was invited to be part of Humanitas Research Hospital as Clinical and Invasive Cardiology Unit Director.

Dr. Reimers participates in many scientific studies on the treatment of myocardial infarction considering new interventional or pharmaceutical approaches for primary angioplasty. He was also member of the Technical Commission of the Regional Bid for the purchase of stents. Thanks to Dr. Reimers’ efforts, Hemodynamics of Mirano (Venice) is considered reference center for primary angioplasty and elective complex procedures. Dr. Reimers is considered to be one of the leading experts of carotid angioplasty worldwide. He is preparing a program for interventional treatment of acute stroke. He performs routine renal angioplasty and implants percutaneous devices and endoprosthesis systems for aortic aneurysms.

Dr. Reimers has published, as author or co-author, 77 articles quoted in Medline. The impact factor calculated based on 2006 is 263. He published 9 book chapters and several abstracts for important international conferences dedicated to Cardiology, such as TCT, PCR, National GISE ANMCO, JIM and ESC, were he also performed live invasive procedures.

Dr. Reimers has always considered participation in clinical trials and scientific international events among the main activities of his professional carrier. Besides teaching at University of Tor Vergata in Rome, he organizes many conferences, national and international medical follow-up courses. For over 9 years he has been organizing theoretical and practical courses with lectures and transmission of live procedures in Venice. He has so far organized two editions of TOBI, international meeting dedicated to invasive treatment of total coronary occlusions and bifurcations, three editions of ETI, international conference and the largest in Italy, dedicated to invasive cardiology devices. 

Dr. Reimers was member of the scientific committee in the editions of 2006 and 2007 of National Convention GISE (Italian Group of Hemodynamic Study) and participated at important events dedicated to CAPTURE study, ESIRIUS, SYNTAX, TIMI 38, FINESSE and many others.

Publications: ttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=bernhard

Biography

Dr. Mehdi Afrit is a Medical Oncologist who practices at Burjeel Specialty Hospital in Sharjah. He has over 11 years of experience caring for and managing cancer patients. He has extensive experience providing chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy to patients. He earned a Certificate of Medical Oncology from the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris, France, where he received training in antitumor chemotherapy and cancer medical treatment. Additionally, he holds an international certificate in breast diseases. He also has a certificate in Good Clinical Practice from Trans Celerate Biopharma Inc. and a certificate in Clinical Trial Management: Good Clinical Practice from the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine of the Royal College of Physicians. He previously worked for over five years as an Assistant Professor of Medical Oncology at Tunis’s Faculty of Medicine. He later practiced as a Consultant, Medical Oncologist for six years at Arianna’s hospital in Tunisia. He later worked for two years as a Specialist Medical Oncologist at Zulekha Hospital. He was also an investigator in three international clinical trials and holds clinical trial auditing and CRO certifications and a GCP Training Certificate from 2016. He is a member in good standing of the Emirates Oncology Society (EOS), the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). His clinical expertise includes but is not limited to the following:

• Oncology care and treatment for chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, immune therapy, and target therapy
• Breast cancer
• Solid tumor diagnosis
• Digestive cancer
• Gynecological cancer
• Lung cancer
• Genitourinary cancer
• Sarcoma

Awards & Achievements

• Award from Himaya Foundations and University of Sharjah

Research & Publications

• Clinicopathological Features of Gastric Cancer in a Cohort of Gulf Council Countries' Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study of 96 Cases. Journal of Oncology Research Reviews & Reports Volume 2(2): 1-3.
• The Burden of Gynecologic Cancers in the UAE. Journal of Oncology Research Reviews & Reports Volume 2(4): 1-6.
• The Emirates Oncology Task Force Clinical Practice Guideline on Screening for SARS-CoV-2 in Asymptomatic Adult Cancer Patients Before Anti-Cancer Therapy. Journal of Oncology Research Reviews & Reports Volume 2(4): 1-6.
• The State of Cancer Care in the United Arab Emirates in 2020: Challenges and Recommendations, A report by the United Arab Emirates Oncology Task Force. Humaid Al-Shamsi, Humaa Darr, Ibrahim Abu-Gheida , Jawaher Ansari, Martine, Mehdi Afrit, Mohamad H Masri, Mohamed Abuhaleeqa. Gulf J Oncology 2020 Jan;1(32):71-87.
• Primary Bone Lymphoma: Tunisian Multicentric Retrospective Study About 32 Cases. Ben Ayed C, Laabidi S, Said N, Afrit M, Ben Ahmed S, Boussen H. Tunis Med. 2018 May;96(5):269-272.
• First Site of Recurrence After Breast Cancer Adjuvant Treatment in the Era of Multimodality Therapy: Which Imaging for Which Patient During Follow-up? Nesrine M, Mehdi B, Houda EB, Soumaya L, Mehdi A, Bechir Z, Hamouda B. Breast Dis. 2017 Nov 21