Optimising the research potential of our patient populations

Secondary and tertiary level cardiovascular care is provided, by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust (UHL), for a local population of over 1.9 million, a very significant proportion of whom are of ethnic minority (South Asian) origin and have a higher than average prevalence of cardiovascular diseases. Furthermore, the population is stable, facilitating efficient long-term follow-up.

UHL has 377 beds dedicated to the cardiovascular specialities. In 2008, the following procedures were performed:

• 4,459 angiograms
• 2,010 percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs)
• 1,067 CABG/valve operations
• 643 electrophysiological procedures
• More than 1,000 pacemaker and defibrillator implants

The Leicester hypertension centre is a European centre of excellence, managing over 2,000 complex cases per year and UHL also provides regional vascular surgery services including carotid and abdominal aortic aneurysm imaging and screening. In addition, there is a new regional stroke centre and a large diabetes clinical research centre.

The patient population offers a superb opportunity for translational research, but one which is currently not captured adequately. To realise this potential, the BRU is creating two new linked infrastructures:

• The UHL Biomedical Research Informatics Centre for Cardiovascular Science (BRICCS)
• The Leicester Cardiovascular Bioresource (LCB)