When blood is much thicker than water: what to know about thrombophilia

By Professor Vassilis Hadjianastassiou
Vascular surgery

Professor Vassilis Hadjianastassiou is a consultant vascular and general surgeon based in London. He has a special interest in managing varicose veins and diagnosing deep vein thrombosis. With regards to arterial disease, he follows developments very closely in carotid artery surgery. He has extensive experience in complex laparoscopic surgery including hernia repairs, cholecystectomies, adrenalectomies and nephrectomies (as well as partial nephrectomies). He works privately in London at London Bridge Hospital, The London Clinic, the London Welbeck Hospital and the Nuffield Highgate Hospital. He works as a substantive NHS consultant surgeon in vascular surgery, general surgery and kidney transplantation at Bart's Health NHS Trust.

Professor Hadjianastassiou graduated from the medical school of the globally-esteemed University of Oxford, where he subsequently also completed his doctoral thesis in abdominal aortic aneurysm risk stratification. He completed his specialist surgical training at the Oxford and London Deaneries and holds dual GMC accreditation in both vascular surgery and general surgery.

Professor Hadjianastassiou is an esteemed figure in surgery. He is currently serving as a member of the court of Examiners at the Royal College of Surgeons of England for the award of the MRCS title. He has served for two consecutive terms as a member of the Executive Council and the treasurer of the Division of Transplantation, of the European Board of Surgery (UEMS). He holds the academic title of full Clinical Professor of Surgery for the University of Nicosia in Cyprus. He is an editorial reviewer for peer-reviewed journals and he has published extensively in scientific literature.

Professor Hadjianastassiou's impressive career has also seen him work as the clinical lead for pancreas transplantation at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust where he was appointed consultant surgeon in 2008. Further to his clinical director role for the Republic of Cyprus' government transplant unit, he also served for two years as one of the two appointed experts in vascular surgery on the government’s advisory committee. Here, he introduced the first carotid endarterectomy under local anaesthesia, the first pancreatic organ transplant and the first laparoscopic donor nephrectomy. He pioneered the Cyprus blood group incompatible kidney transplantation and also did the first fenestrated EVAR for complex abdominal aortic aneurysm repair.

Overall assessment of their patients