BARRA Sérgio

Postdoctoral researcher

Université Paris Cité

sergioncbarra [at] gmail.com

Short bio

MD PhD (Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto)

Research project

Sudden cardiac death. Research Program on Artificial Intelligence Applied to Cardiac Rhythm Disorders.

Short abstract

The identification of individuals at long-term risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) is a difficult task. Our research group has been focusing on pre-emptive risk stratification and prevention of SCD by identifying sentinel events which frequently precede SCD, a task facilitated by recent advances in communication and remote transmission technologies. We hypothesise that it is possible to identify a high-risk group of subjects at risk of SCD and thus apply immediate preventive therapies. Application of artificial intelligence to continuous device monitoring may help identify specific patterns prior to the occurrence of a fatal event. The DAI-PP program (centralised at HEGP) has been initiated with a 2-year enrolment and 5-year follow-up of more than 5000 patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators and remote continuous monitoring. Furthermore, systematic collection of digital electrocardiograms is part of the prospective Paris-Sudden Death Expertise Center registry, which collects all SCD since May 2011. An improved understanding of electrical signals and their dynamics prior to the occurrence of a fatal arrhythmic event may allow a better triage and identification of patients at high-risk of events.

My portfolio includes a number of high-impact publications in the field of SCD prediction in the heart failure setting, most of which focusing on patients with clinical indication for implantable cardioverter-defibrillators or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. Most of this work was developed while I was working at the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Trust, in Cambridge, UK, and done in collaboration with Professors Eloi Marijon and Serge Boveda.