Biography

Mr Fabio De Robertis is a consultant cardiac and transplant surgeon primarily based at Harefield Hospital, who treats both NHS and private patients.

Mr De Robertis trained as a cardiac surgeon at the University of Naples, Italy, focusing on structural heart disease, including techniques for the management of aortic aneurysms and valve infections. In 2000, he joined Professor Sir Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital to obtain further subspecialty training in complex cardiac conditions and transplantation. 

In 2007, he completed a fellowship in mitral surgery at the Royal Brompton Hospital where he trained in mitral reconstructive surgery and TAVI. In 2009 he was appointed as a consultant in cardiac surgery and transplantation.

Clinical expertise

Mr Fabio De Robertis is nationally and internationally recognised as one of the few experts in the field of hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM).

Mr De Robertis has vast clinical expertise in many aspects of cardiac surgery, including: 

  • coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) – with off-pump (beating heart) technique, arterial conduits and minimally invasive endoscopic harvesting
  • minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MIDCAB, mini-sternotomy, mini-thoracotomy) 
  • valve repair or replacement
    • complex mitral valve reconstructive surgery
    • aortic valve and root surgery with human substitutes (homograft) and prosthetic substitutes
  • septal myectomy for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM)
  • surgery for atrial fibrillation
  • infective endocarditis
  • redo surgery
  • aortic aneurysm surgery including PEARS procedure
  • chest wall reconstruction for the treatment of recurrent sternal dehiscence following cardiac surgery
  • heart and lung transplantation
  • surgical therapies for cardiac failure including ventricular assist device (VAD) surgery.

Mr De Robertis individualises the care for each patient based on their assessment. He makes use of the most modern integrated imaging techniques and discussion of the results among expert multidisciplinary teams.

Research interests

Mr Fabio De Robertis has a keen interest in clinical research. He has been the principal investigator for several trials in the field of revascularisation, transplantation and aortic surgery.

Publications

Mr Fabio De Robertis is the author of a benchmark paper describing the use of a short-term ventricular assist device system to support patients with end-stage cardiac failure not eligible for transplantation.

He has written chapters in books and original articles published in peer-reviewed journals including:

  • Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 
  • Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation 
  • European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • New England Journal of Medicine
  • The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

Teaching

Mr Fabio De Robertis is frequently invited to lecture and present original scientific work at national and international meetings for surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses and physiotherapists.

    Read more

    • In an article published in The Independent, lung transplant recipient Sharon Brennan meets Mr Fabio De Robertis, the surgeon who performed her double lung transplant in 2013. 
    • This article published in the Daily Mail shares the news that a former heart transplant patient, Andrew Britton, and his wife Lauren named their son Frank Fabio after Mr Fabio De Robertis.
    • In 2017 The National, Gulf News and Eye of Riyadh published articles featuring Mr De Robertis at Arab Health performing a simulated surgery for the management of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.