Specialization
General Cardiology
Electrofysiology with special focus on syncope
Focus of research
Syncope
General cardiology
My scientific interest derives from my clinical work with patients at the syncope unit and was shaped by my role as lead author of the initial evaluation and treatment sections of the 2018 Syncope Guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology.
Syncope is form of transient loss of consciousness caused by cerebral hypoperfusion. It accounts for approximately 25,000 emergency department visits and 250,000 outpatient consultations annually in the Netherlands. Differentiating between high- and low-risk patients remains challenging, often resulting in inefficient testing, unnecessary admissions, and fragmented care.
My research has focused on assessing the clinical benefit and health care efficiency of the initial syncope evaluation of patients in the acute setting of the emergency department and outpatient clinic, which is the main topic the Fainting Assessment STudy (F.A.ST) research line.
This relates directly with the real-world implementation of the syncope guidelines of the European Society of Cardiology which has resulted multiple publications, international presentations, and the invitation to lead the co-creations as a chairperson to develop the new syncope guideline of the European Society of Cardiology.
By achieving governmental funding we were able to continue to advance evidence-based syncope care in both academic and non-academic hospitals on a national and international level.
The focus of my research allows me to combine direct clinical work with syncope patients and perform research activities on a high level.