Dr Sukhjinder Nijjer Consultant cardiologist

Background

Dr Sukhjinder Nijjer works at both the Hammersmith Hospital and Chelsea & Westminster Foundation NHS Trust as a consultant cardiologist. He is also an honorary senior clinical lecturer at Imperial College London. His clinical duties cover all aspects of cardiology in his clinics at Imperial College Healthcare’s community cardiology service for Ealing. He is regularly invited to speak at national and international conferences including those held by the American College of Cardiology. 

Dr Nijjer studied medicine at the University of Bristol, where he graduated with honours in 2004 with two undergraduate scholarships and numerous academic prizes. He was also awarded a first class honours degree in pharmacology, which was supported by the prestigious Wolfson Award from the Royal College of Physicians. He undertook his junior doctor and specialist training at the Hammersmith, Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals. 

Dr Nijjer is committed to improving the treatment of patients through the development and application of new medical technologies. His PhD and on-going research programme has involved the development of new techniques to measure blood flow in coronary arteries with blockages. His PhD was awarded by Imperial College London and was supported by the prestigious Medical Research Council (MRC). While undertaking his PhD, Dr Nijjer worked within a highly renowned team to pioneer the use of iFR and iFR-pullback to better treat coronary blockages. iFR and iFR-Scout are now used in thousands of patients around the world and iFR has recently been called the ‘new gold standard’ by the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr Nijjer possesses clinical expertise in all aspects of general and interventional cardiology. He specialises in the investigation and management of coronary artery disease, including acute myocardial infarction (heart attacks) and in the treatment of patients who have had prior heart attacks. He is highly knowledgeable in anti-platelet and anticoagulant medications and the use of CT coronary angiography to help efficiently diagnose patients without the need for invasive procedures. Dr Nijjer is also skilled in helping patients with breathlessness and those experiencing palpitations. Not only this, but he has expertise in the use and interpretation of electrocardiography, echocardiography and stress testing. If the need arises, he is an expert in performing coronary angiography, coronary angioplasty and pacemaker implantation with the use of the latest technology and techniques to ensure that his treatments are guided and optimised appropriately. His research has placed him at the forefront in the use of coronary physiology and intravascular imaging to ensure every angioplasty case meets international gold standards.

Expertise

Ischaemic heart disease, angina, heart failure, arrhythmias, valvular heart disease, syncope

Research & publications

The research from Dr Nijjer’s PhD has been published in a number of major cardiology journals and he has personally presented his work at some of the leading cardiology conferences across the world, such as the American College of Cardiology and the European Society of Cardiology conferences. Dr Nijjer has over 70 high-impact publications to his name, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and the European Heart Journal. Among his awards and prizes, Dr Nijjer was a finalist at the Royal Society of Medicine Gold Medal Competition 2015 and a finalist for BCIS Young Investigator 2015. That same year he was awarded the British Heart Foundation prize for best Research Abstract in Coronary Intervention, and CRT Young Leader prize. 

PubMed

Recent notable publications include: 

Al-Lamee R, Thompson D, Dehbi HM, Sen S, Tang K, Davies J, Keeble T, Mielewczik M, Kaprielian R, Malik IS, Nijjer SS, Petraco R, Cook C, Ahmad Y, Howard J, Baker C, Sharp A, Gerber R, Talwar S, Assomull R, Mayet J, Wensel R, Collier D, Shun-Shin M, Thom SA, Davies JE, Francis DP; ORBITA investigators. (2017) Percutaneous coronary intervention in stable angina (ORBITA): a double-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet, Nov 1. pii: S0140-6736(17)32714-9. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32714-9. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29103656. 

Götberg M, Cook CM, Sen S, Nijjer S, Escaned J, Davies JE. (2017) The evolving future of instantaneous wave-free ratio and fractional flow reserve. J Am Coll Cardiol, Sep 12;70(11):1379–1402. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2017.07.770. Review. PubMed PMID: 28882237. 

Cook CM, Petraco R, Shun-Shin MJ, Ahmad Y, Nijjer S, Al-Lamee R, Kikuta Y, Shiono Y, Mayet J, Francis DP, Sen S, Davies JE. (2017) Diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography-derived fractional flow reserve : a systematic review. JAMA Cardiol, Jul 1;2(7):803–10. doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2017.1314. PubMed PMID: 28538960.

Davies JE, Sen S, Dehbi HM, Al-Lamee R, Petraco R, Nijjer SS, Bhindi R, Lehman SJ, Walters D, Sapontis J, Janssens L, Vrints CJ, Khashaba A, Laine M, Van Belle E, Krackhardt F, Bojara W, Going O, Härle T, Indolfi C, Niccoli G, Ribichini F, Tanaka N, Yokoi H, Takashima H, Kikuta Y, Erglis A, Vinhas H, Canas Silva P, Baptista SB, Alghamdi A, Hellig F, Koo BK, Nam CW, Shin ES, Doh JH, Brugaletta S, Alegria-Barrero E, Meuwissen M, Piek JJ, van Royen N, Sezer M, Di Mario C, Gerber RT, Malik IS, Sharp ASP, Talwar S, Tang K, Samady H, Altman J, Seto AH, Singh J, Jeremias A, Matsuo H, Kharbanda RK, Patel MR, Serruys P, Escaned J. (2017) Use of the instantaneous wave-free ratio or fractional flow reserve in PCI. N Engl J Med,  May 11;376(19):1824–34. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1700445. Epub 2017 Mar 18. PubMed PMID: 28317458. 

Raphael CE, Cooper R, Parker KH, Collinson J, Vassiliou V, Pennell DJ, de Silva R, Hsu LY, Greve AM, Nijjer S, Broyd C, Ali A, Keegan J, Francis DP, Davies JE, Hughes AD, Arai A, Frenneaux M, Stables RH, Di Mario C, Prasad SK (2016) Mechanisms of myocardial ischemia in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: insights from wave intensity analysis and magnetic resonance. J Am Coll Cardiol, Oct 11;68(15):1651–60. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2016.07.751. PubMed PMID: 27712778; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5054113. 

Cook CM, Ahmad Y, Shun-Shin MJ, Nijjer S, Petraco R, Al-Lamee R, Mayet J, Francis DP, Sen S, Davies JE. (2016) Quantification of the effect of pressure wire drift on the diagnostic performance of fractional flow reserve, instantaneous wave-free ratio, and whole-cycle Pd/Pa. Circ Cardiovasc Interv, Apr;9(4):e002988. doi: 10.1161/CIRCINTERVENTIONS.115.002988. PubMed PMID: 27076571; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4836560.

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