Dr Nicholas Pegge

Dr Nicholas Pegge is an experienced, senior consultant cardiologist practising in Sussex and London.

His substantive NHS consultant appointment is at University Hospitals Sussex NHS Foundation Trust which comprises Worthing Hospital, St Richard's Hospital, Chichester, and Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. Dr Pegge is Senior Appraiser in the Division of Medicine; and has chaired a range of Hospital committees.

Dr Pegge has extensive experience as a consultant cardiologist, managing adult patients with the full range of cardiology problems and associated general medical conditions.

Dr Pegge is an experienced interventional cardiologist, performing angioplasty and pacemaker implantation with a long track record of training many UK cardiologists in invasive cardiology. In addition, when his patients need other procedures, Dr Pegge works with select , highly regarded specialised teams in London and Southampton to provide any necessary interventions for his patients.

Predictably, the commonest conditions affecting his patients include chest pain and angina, breathlessness, palpitations and heart rhythm problems; including the investigation of blackout or syncope; ischaemic heart disease; heart murmurs and heart valve problems; and problems with heart muscle, including heart failure and all forms of cardiomyopathy.

High blood pressure and cholesterol or lipid problems are modifiable risk factors for heart disease, and Dr Pegge will guide patients in managing and adequately treating these longterm conditions.

Dr Pegge has a track record of assessing and managing professionals with suspected and ongoing heart problems - such as commercial pilots - arranging appropriate investigations and providing appropriate treatment to keep his patients active in demanding professional roles.

Outpatient consultations take place for NHS patients at Worthing Hospital, and Dr Pegge undertakes private outpatient consulting at BMI Goring Hall Hospital, Bodiam Avenue, Goring-by-Sea, West Sussex, BN12 5AT; and at 10 Harley Street, London (by arrangement with Mrs Jane Penn, Dr Pegge's PA).

Appointments for private patients can usually be made at short notice.

NHS referrals are made by general practitioners or other consultants through University Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust.

Diseases, Medical Tests and Treatments

Dr Pegge undertakes a range of cardiac investigations and treatments. As well as drug treatments, these include cardiac catheterisation, coronary angioplasty and stenting (also known as PCI, or percutaneous coronary intervention), pacemaker implantation, defibrillator (ICD, implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) implantation and cardiac re-synchronisation therapy (also known as bi-ventricular pacing) for heart failure.

Dr Pegge's patients have appropriate and rapid access to the full range of non-invasive assessments including echocardiography (including bubble contrast studies; transoesophageal echo; stress echo); CT (calcium scoring and CT coronary angiography); MRI (stress and cardiomyopathy protocol CMR); Holter monitoring (ECG tapes, for 24 hours or longer event monitors); exercise treadmill stress tests; tilt table tests; 24 hour blood pressure monitoring; and 'Reveal' sub-cutaneous loop recorders for arrhythmia monitoring.

Dr Pegge performs both elective and emergency coronary angioplasty and stenting for ischaemic heart disease including angina, acute coronary syndromes and primary PCI for heart attack – ST elevation MI.

Regular attendance at international scientific and medical meetings, and participation in local and regional clinical governance, helps to keep Dr Pegge up to date with the latest advances in cardiology, and maintain clinical standards.

Some of Dr Pegge's patients are approached to be recruited into ongoing research studies. Dr Pegge is the local Principal investigator for a number of large, randomised trials of new therapies, and collaborates with other researchers at the Sussex Cardiac Centre.

Dr Pegge also provides expert witness reports for insurance, regulatory and legal purposes.

Dr Pegge has been a consultant cardiologist in Sussex since 2004, living locally, and is married to a local GP. Outside of medicine, his interests are his family, singing, and trying to keep fit by jogging over the South Downs.

A significant proportion of patients referred to Dr Pegge have difficult to diagnose problems; some may already have had previous investigations which have not revealed the cause of their symptoms. Dr Pegge's background in general internal medicine helps him offer appropriate investigations such as VQ scanning for undiagnosed pulmonary embolism; CT pulmonary angiography; CT and MRI scanning of the brain, abdomen and chest; blood and urine testing for less common metabolic and endocrine problems. He works closely with arrange of specialists in other areas of medicine especially, neurology; renal medicine; respiratory disease; diabetology.

Dr Pegge also works closely with surgeons performing orthopaedic, vascular and general surgery, adequately assessing and preparing patients with cardiovascular disease to enable them to have safe treatments from his colleagues.

Dr Pegge is an accredited Expert Witness with a long track record of providing expert witness reports and giving evidence at courts and tribunals.