Ever since his school days, Associate Professor John Beltrame knew his interest in the heart would lead him to one day work in the field of Cardiology. Volunteering with the St Johns Ambulance on weekends, John saw his first heart attack patient at just 15 years of age. John was treating heart attack victims a few years later; his passion for helping patients as well as learning more about the human heart has grown ever since.

John studied a Bachelor of Science which led to Medicine at Flinders University where he decided his future would involve delving into the medical research field of Cardiology. In 1992 John completed  his advanced traineeship in Cardiology at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital , an institution he holds in the highest regard.

John’s passion and dedication to the field of Cardiology has gained him international recognition.  Requests for him to make contributions to books such as the Harris Textbook of Medicine known at “the bible of medicine’ and Braunwald’s Heart Disease textbook were particularly satisfying. In 2008 a paper was published in the New England Journal of Medicine - the top ranking Medicine journal in the world- which detailed the treatment of heart disease patients at TQEH. This was a huge achievement not only for John, but also for The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

However, John says the most satisfaction he receives in the field is through treating his patients and making a difference to their overall health status.

“We characterised a phenomenon known as “coronary slow flow” which presents in patients as recurring chest pain. Previously, these patients were never formally regarded as being ill,” said John. 

Studies at TQEH however, have demonstrated that these patients have problems with the microscopic blood vessels of the heart.

“We were actually able to identify what was wrong with the patients which means we are able to treat them and see them get better which is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job” he said.

Once of John’s current projects focuses on patients who have coronary heart disease; this is a disease where there is problem in blood supply to the muscle of the heart and usually manifests as chest pain, otherwise known as angina.

“Cholesterol filled blockage in the coronary blood vessels is the most common cause of chest pain, however we have found some patients don’t have a cholesterol blockage but still suffer from chest pain,” he said.

“What happens in these patients is their chest pain is caused by spasm of the blood vessels thereby cutting off the blood supply to the heart.”

Common treatments such as bypass surgery and balloon treatments are ineffective in these patients, so John and his team are looking at different treatment possibilities to eliminate the blood vessel spasms.

Additionally, John and his team discovered the importance of a type of drug called a Calcium T-channel blocker, which has proved to be effective in treating patients whose chest pain is caused by microscopic blood vessel spasm.

“The effectiveness of this drug gave us a greater understanding and has highlighted that we need to develop more of these types of drugs to effectively combat this condition. It has had a major impact on the way people think in Cardiology around the world and has shown a new way at looking at treating heart disease patients,” he said.

The fantastic research being undertaken in Cardiology at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital has been extensively supported by The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Research Foundation and its supporters.

“Many of our PhD students have TQEH Research Foundation to thank for their scholarships as well as the numerous pieces of equipment, pivotal to our research, which have been funded by The Foundation,’ said John.

“This fantastic new facility, The Institute, has greatly enhanced the quality of research we can do and is also largely a result of the Foundation and its dedicated supporters.”

“We really are extremely grateful for their continual support, as are all the patients who benefit from this research”.