Dr Ravi Kamdar is a Consultant Cardiologist specialising in Devices, Arrhythmia and Heart Failure at King’s College and Croydon University Hospitals.  He has been the Clinical Lead of the Arrhythmia Service at Croydon University Hospital since 2013 and is the hospital’s Lead for Cardiology Clinical Governance.

Dr Kamdar is passionate about delivering high-quality care and strongly believes in shared-decision making and patient-centred care. He ensures his patients are fully involved in and informed about their condition, proposed investigations and treatment options.

Dr Kamdar graduated with Honours from the renowned Medical College of St Bartholomew's and the Royal London Hospitals in 1996 and undertook his general professional training at King’s College, Royal Brompton and Hammersmith Hospitals in London. He underwent postgraduate training in cardiology at King’s College and Guys & St Thomas’s Hospitals and additional subspecialty Fellowship training in cardiac devices and arrhythmia at St Bartholomew’s Hospital. He was appointed Consultant Cardiologist in 2009.

Dr Kamdar has more than 20 years’ experience in cardiology and specialises in the investigation, diagnosis and management of all aspects of adult general cardiology including arrhythmia, heart failure, ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and valvular heart disease.

His subspecialist interest is in cardiac device treatments (pacemakers, defibrillators [ICD] and biventricular cardiac resynchronization therapy [CRT] devices), slow and fast heart rhythm disorders (arrhythmias) and heart failure.

Dr Kamdar has a particular passion for cardiac device therapies and is widely regarded as an expert in this field, with multiple peer-reviewed publications. He is accredited as a Certified Cardiac Devices Specialist (CCDS) from The International Board of Heart Rhythm Examiners (IBHRE).

Dr Kamdar is highly experienced in the implantation and follow-up of simple and complex cardiac devices and performs the latest innovative cardiac device procedures including subcutaneous ICDs and His-bundle (conduction system) pacing.

He has consistently been the highest volume implanter of complex cardiac devices at King’s College and Croydon University Hospitals for several years and frequently implants cardiac devices in difficult and challenging cases that have previously been unsuccessful.

At Croydon University Hospital, Dr Kamdar established a new complex cardiac pacemaker and defibrillator implantation and follow-up service which received positive recognition and accreditation from NHS England in 2015.

He has built an effective Arrhythmia team of doctors, specialist nurses and cardiac physiologists dedicated to arrhythmia care, and, chairs the regular multi-disciplinary team meeting, which has improved the investigation, diagnosis and treatment of arrhythmias and heart failure for the population of Croydon.

He has received Clinical Excellence Awards and been awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians for this work.

Dr Kamdar successfully introduced novel cardiac device technologies (subcutaneous-ICDs and His-bundle pacing) at Croydon University Hospital and regularly performs these procedures at both King’s College and Croydon University Hospitals. 

In addition, he has developed a Cardiac Devices Research Programme at Croydon University Hospital and is the local Principal Investigator for several ongoing NIHR clinical research trials. His research interests include improving the response to cardiac resynchronisation therapy and physiological intrinsic conduction system pacing.

Dr Kamdar trains colleagues and cardiology trainees in techniques for implantation of simple and complex cardiac devices. He is actively involved in teaching undergraduates and is also an Educational and Clinical Supervisor for postgraduate junior doctors.

Outside of work, he enjoys scuba diving, running and football.

Conditions/Diagnoses:

• Arrhythmias (Heart Rhythm disorders)
• Heart failure
• Coronary artery disease
• Hypertension (high blood pressure)

Symptoms:

• Palpitations
• Blackouts (fainting, syncope)
• Breathlessness
• Chest pain (angina)
• Fluid retention

Investigation Expertise:

• ECG
• Exercise Stress Test
• Continuous ECG heart monitoring
• Continuous blood pressure monitoring
• Echocardiography
• Coronary angiography

Treatment Expertise:

• Cardiac Pacemakers
• Implantable Cardiac Defibrillators [ICD]
• Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy [CRT] Devices
• Treatment of Arrhythmias
• Treatment of Hypertension
• Treatment of Heart Failure

• Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) 2011
• British Society for Heart Failure (BSH) 2010
• British Heart Rhythm Society (BHRS) 2003
• British Society of Echocardiography (BSE) 2002
• Royal College of Physicians (RCP, London) 1999
• British Medical Association (1996)