Prof Nick Curzen
BM(Hons) PhD FRCP
Professor of Interventional Cardiology (UoS)
Honorary Consultant Cardiologist (UHS)
Nick Curzen is Professor of Interventional Cardiology. He is a clinical interventional cardiologist and current President of the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society.
He leads a research team that runs:
Southampton-based multicentre randomised trials (COMET, RIPCORD2, FORECAST),
Local research in computer modelling, coronary physiology, platelet function, early detection of CV disease (hsTrop; FFRCT),
Recruitment to international trials.
He has over 350 PubMed publications and has edited 3 textbooks. The group has raised over £6m in grants over the last 6 years, including a £1.8m grant for the BRITISH multicentre randomised trial from BHF in 2022.
Landmark publications:
1. Routine Pressure Wire Assessment Versus Conventional Angiography in the Management of Patients With Coronary Artery Disease: The RIPCORD 2 Trial.
Stables RH, Mullen LJ, Elguindy M, Nicholas Z, Aboul-Enien YH, Kemp I, O'Kane P, Hobson A, Johnson TW, Khan SQ, Wheatcroft SB, Garg S, Zaman AG, Mamas MA, Nolan J, Jadhav S, Berry C, Watkins S, Hildick-Smith D, Gunn J, Conway D, Hoye A, Fazal IA, Hanratty CG, De Bruyne B, Curzen N. Circulation. 2022 Aug 30;146(9):687-698. doi: 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.121.057793. Epub 2022 Aug 10.PMID: 35946404
2. Percutaneous coronary intervention versus coronary artery bypass grafting in patients with three-vessel or left main coronary artery disease: 10-year follow-up of the multicentre randomised controlled SYNTAX trial.
Thuijs DJFM, Kappetein AP, Serruys PW, Mohr FW, Morice MC, Mack MJ, Holmes DR Jr, Curzen N, Davierwala P, Noack T, Milojevic M, Dawkins KD, da Costa BR, Jüni P, Head SJ; SYNTAX Extended Survival Investigators. Lancet. 2019 Oct 12;394(10206):1325-1334. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)31997-X. Epub 2019 Sep 2.PMID: 31488373
3. True 99th centile of high sensitivity cardiac troponin for hospital patients: prospective, observational cohort study.
Mariathas M, Allan R, Ramamoorthy S, Olechowski B, Hinton J, Azor M, Nicholas Z, Calver A, Corbett S, Mahmoudi M, Rawlins J, Simpson I, Wilkinson J, Kwok CS, Cook P, Mamas MA, Curzen N. BMJ. 2019 Mar 13;364:l729. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l729.PMID: 30867154
4. Fractional flow reserve-guided PCI for stable coronary artery disease.
De Bruyne B, Fearon WF, Pijls NH, Barbato E, Tonino P, Piroth Z, Jagic N, Mobius-Winckler S, Rioufol G, Witt N, Kala P, MacCarthy P, Engström T, Oldroyd K, Mavromatis K, Manoharan G, Verlee P, Frobert O, Curzen N, Johnson JB, Limacher A, Nüesch E, Jüni P; FAME 2 Trial Investigators. N Engl J Med. 2014 Sep 25;371(13):1208-17. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1408758. Epub 2014 Sep 1.PMID: 25176289
5. Fractional flow reserve-guided PCI versus medical therapy in stable coronary disease.
De Bruyne B, Pijls NH, Kalesan B, Barbato E, Tonino PA, Piroth Z, Jagic N, Möbius-Winkler S, Rioufol G, Witt N, Kala P, MacCarthy P, Engström T, Oldroyd KG, Mavromatis K, Manoharan G, Verlee P, Frobert O, Curzen N, Johnson JB, Jüni P, Fearon WF; FAME 2 Trial Investigators. N Engl J Med. 2012 Sep 13;367(11):991-1001. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1205361. Epub 2012 Aug 27.PMID: 22924638 Free article. Clinical Trial.
6. Fractional flow reserve derived from computed tomography coronary angiography in the assessment and management of stable chest pain: the FORECAST randomized trial.
Curzen N, Nicholas Z, Stuart B, Wilding S, Hill K, Shambrook J, Eminton Z, Ball D, Barrett C, Johnson L, Nuttall J, Fox K, Connolly D, O'Kane P, Hobson A, Chauhan A, Uren N, Mccann G, Berry C, Carter J, Roobottom C, Mamas M, Rajani R, Ford I, Douglas P, Hlatky M. Eur Heart J. 2021 Oct 1;42(37):3844-3852. doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehab444.PMID: 34269376
7. Intravascular Imaging and 12-Month Mortality After Unprotected Left Main Stem PCI: An Analysis From the British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Database.
Kinnaird T, Johnson T, Anderson R, Gallagher S, Sirker A, Ludman P, de Belder M, Copt S, Oldroyd K, Banning A, Mamas M, Curzen N. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2020 Feb 10;13(3):346-357. doi: 10.1016/j.jcin.2019.10.007.PMID: 32029252
8. Long-Term Follow-Up of Complete Versus Lesion-Only Revascularization in STEMI and Multivessel Disease: The CvLPRIT Trial.
Gershlick AH, Banning AS, Parker E, Wang D, Budgeon CA, Kelly DJ, Kane PO, Dalby M, Hetherington SL, McCann GP, Greenwood JP, Curzen N. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2019 Dec 24;74(25):3083-3094. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2019.10.033.PMID: 31856964
Major grants:
>£6m grant income over last 6 years
Including £2m from British Heart Foundation in 2022
Impact example:
High sensitivity troponin (hsTrop) is used frequently in hospital in an attempt to diagnose acute myocardial infraction… there are important flaws in the assumption that this test is good at that function.
Our work on spot hsTrop levels in 20,000 consecutive patients attending the hospital for a blood test for any reason (in- or out-patient) showed that 1 in 20 had a hsTrop level above the manufacturer-recommended upper limit of normal (BMJ. 2019 Mar 13;364:l729).
This stimulated a debate internationally about the real value of this assay in hospital patients…. But the group has subsequently followed the patients up and shown that the level is independently associated with mortality (both cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular) at 1 year (Am J Cardiol. 2021 Nov 1;158:124-131) and now 2.5 years (under review).
This surprising result raises the question about whether hsTrop is a biomarker for prognosis… a novel potential use for this test? (Lancet. 2018 Jun 16;391(10138):2398-2399) We have subsequently shown that hsTrop is associated with mortality in critical care (Crit Care Med. 2021 Sep 1;49(9):1451-1459) and ED (Clin Med (Lond). 2020 Nov;20(6):528-534) populations.