Associate Professor Theodoros Kofidis

A/Prof Kofidis trained in some of the world’s leading institutions (Stanford-USA, Hannover-Germany) and specializes in all types of adult cardiac surgery, such as bypass surgery, heart valve surgery, aortic surgery, heart failure surgery, arrhythmia surgery and more.

A/Prof Kofidis’ specialties are minimally invasive procedures for the repair/replacement of the heart valves, which he has introduced into the program at NUHS. These procedures are his preferred approach to minimize trauma, stress to the patient, length of stay in the hospital and achieve a better cosmetic result. He also carries out surgeries in off-pump technique, without necessitating the heart lung machine or stopping the heart. He has started and now, directs the robotic cardiac surgery program. He is the first to have implanted and helped children survive and recover from an artificial heart device in Singapore and the region (bridge – to- recovery), and the first to have successfully treated patients with heart failure due to H1N1 using artificial circulation support. He has introduced novel heart–re-shaping surgery for advanced state of disease.

 

A/Prof Kofidis has a considerable contribution to heart-related research. His innovations, discoveries and his patents in Heart Surgery, published in more than 100 articles in international journals, have earned him prestigious international awards, and the honor of invited lecturer at Bill Gates Research Centre, the American Medical Association, and the FDA in the USA. Along with the Head of Department they have founded a new initiative to promote research and innovative technology in Surgery (I.R.I.S.). In April 2010, A/Prof Kofidis was part of the pioneering group of surgeons to perform Robotic Cardiac Surgery in NUHCS.

 

He is a Cardiothoracic Surgeon and envisions promoting advanced, less traumatic surgery in Singapore in the years to come.

Specialty Interest(s):

Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Off-Pump Coronary artery Bypass Grafting (no Heart-Lung Machine) Totally Arterial Bypass Grafting Minimal Invasive Coronary Artery Grafting Minimal invasive vein harvest Redo CABG Surgery Aortic Valve Replacement (+ minimally invasive) Aortic Valve Repair (+ minimally invasive) Mitral Valve Replacement (+ minimally invasive) Mitral Valve Repair (+ minimally invasive) Heart Rhythm Surgery (Atrial Fibrillation and others, also minimally invasive)

Tricuspid and Pulmonary Valve Surgery Aortic aneurysm and dissections of the thoracic aorta All cardiac emergencies Cardiac Tumors and clots (Pulmonary embolism) Heart failure Surgery, including Assist device implantation, ECMO, Transplantation Left ventricular Reconstructive procedures Minimal Invasive Cardiac Surgery Lung Surgery: VATS (Video-Assisted, endoscopic) - Pneumothorax treatment, Wedge Lobectomies Stem Cell Therapies Robotic Cardiac Surgery

Specializes in Diseases and Conditions:

Coronary Heart Disease Valvular Heart Disease Heart Failure Aortic Aneurysm

Selected Publications

1. Haematopoietic stem cells adopt mature haematopoietic fates in ischaemic myocardium. Balsam LB, Wagers AJ, Christensen JL, Kofidis T, Weissman IL, Robbins RC. Nature. 2004 Apr; 428(6983): 668-73.

2. Novel, Injectable Bioartificial Tissue facilitates Targeted, Less Invasive, Large-Scale Tissue Restoration on the Beating Heart following Myocardial Injury. Kofidis T, Lebl DR, Martinez EC, Hoyt G, Tanaka M, Robbins RC. Circulation. 2005;112(9 Suppl):I173-7.

3. Stimulation of paracrine pathways with growth factors enhances embryonic stem cell engraftment and host-specific differentiation in the heart after ischemic myocardial injury. Kofidis T, de Bruin JL, Yamane T, Tanaka M, Lebl DR, Swijnenburg RJ, Weissman IL, Robbins RC. Circulation. 2005; May 111(19):2486-93.

4. Embryonic stem cell immunogenicity increases upon differentiation after transplantation into ischemic myocardium. Swijnenburg RJ, Tanaka M, Vogel H, Baker J, Kofidis T, Gunawan F, Lebl DR, Caffarelli AD, de Bruin JL, Fedoseyeva EV, Robbins RC. Circulation. 2005;112, (9 Suppl):I166-72.

5. Suppression of graft coronary artery disease by a brief treatment with a selective epsilonPKC activator and a deltaPKC inhibitor in murine cardiac allografts. Tanaka M, Terry RD, Mokhtari GK, Inagaki K, Koyanagi T, Kofidis T, Mochly-Rosen D, Robbins RC.  Circulation. 2004 Sep;110(11 Suppl 1):II194-9.

For more of his publications, read here.

Honors

2000	Award for the best oral presentation of the Onassis Institute at the International Congress of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Onassis Heart Center, Athens, Greece.
2001	Award of the European Transplant Society for the best scientific work, Basel, Switzerland. 2002  The German Research Society Grant Award.
2002	The German Research Society Grant Award
2004	The Rockefeller Brothers Fund/Culpeper Bioscience Award, NY, USA.
2005	Funding Award of the Brauckmann Foundation, Hannover, Germany.
2006	The Lillehei-Caster Award of the European Society of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stockholm  Sweden.

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