Dr. Alessandro Giardini

Being told there could be something wrong with your child’s heart is a very distressing and scary situation. You want the best expert advice and care for your child and may feel that the referral system is a remote process that gives little sense of reassurance that you will find the quality of care that you are looking for.

My name is Alessandro Giardini and I am a leading senior Consultant Paediatric and Adolescent Cardiologist working in London; my NHS practice is based at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Sick Children in London, where I have been the Director of Cardiology Inpatient Services for the last 20 years. I am in charge of the cardiology ward and the high dependency unit, and I supervise the care of all children admitted for cardiac treatment there.

I have my Paediatric Cardiology private practice in London in several locations including The Portland Hospital, and at International and Private Patients Great Ormond Street Hospital.

Practising as a paediatric cardiologist in such a world class institutions ensures that I collaborate with and have access to the best of paediatric interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons and to the best facilities in the UK. My unit at GOSH in London is a world leader in cardiac care and has pioneered techniques such as transcatheter pulmonary valve replacement. My involvement in paediatric cardiac research means that your child will be treated according to the latest and most successful techniques.

The heart is the engine of life and has a prodigious capacity but inevitably for such a crucial organ there are many ways in which it can malfunction. 8 children in a 1000 are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). Fortunately, only a quarter of them will require treatment but for those that do there are now appropriate interventions for many of these conditions. I am experienced in the diagnosis and management of a wide range of congenital heart defects in babies, children and adolescents.

I am recognised as a world expert in the field of paediatric cardiology. I am a key opinion leader and my expertise and opinion is regularly sought by cardiologists and families both from the UK and internationally. I have undertaken pioneering research in the field and have published extensively (over 170 peer reviewed articles) on how to apply research findings into clinical practice for the benefit of our patients. I have established and led for 18 years the single ventricle service looking after children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and other types of single ventricle and Fontan patients and I have developed it into the largest of its kind in Europe.