Andrea Rigamonti

Administrative Assistant: Victoria Paz, Victoria.Paz@unityhealth.to 

Research Synopsis: 

As a clinically trained Neuroanesthesiologist and Neuro intensivist, I learned that an optimal manner to optimally treat patients with complex neurological injury is with accurate clinical data. While not formally trained in research; I initiated a research philosophy which promotes improvement of clinical care through accurate biological measurements. 

To better understand different invasive and non-invasive methods for assessing brain health and brain perfusion, I have undertaken a number of projects in neuromonitoring. These included early animal research assessing the impact of hemorrhage and resuscitation on brain tissue oxygen tension. Results demonstrated that the capacity to directly measure brain PO2 would be an immensely valuable capability to help optimize patient management following neurosurgery, subarachnoid hemorrhage and neurotrauma. 

To achieve this goal, I have been involved with collaborative projects assessing multiple modalities to measure brain perfusion including transcranial Doppler, near infrared spectroscopy and invasive oxygen electrodes. These methodologies have informed clinical practice on a daily basis and have led me to be an investigator in a number of important clinical trials including the BOOSTIII trial which will assess the value of implementing protocols to maintain brain tissue oxygen tension measured by an invasive oxygen electrode (LICOX). The encouraging results of the BOOSTII trial suggest that these approaches at measuring and optimizing brain perfusion will lead to improved patient outcomes.