Areas of Expertise

Dr. Orton performs a range of diagnostics, including:

• Airways disease
• Lung cancer, and pulmonary nodules
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Emphysema
• Asthma
• Acute and chronic cough
• Diagnostic bronchoscopy
• EBUS (endobronchial ultrasound guided transbronchial needle aspiration)
• Navigation bronchoscopy
• Cryobiopsy
• Interventional bronchoscopy
• Endobronchial valves
• Bronchial thermoplasty
• Thermal vapour ablation
• Metered cryospray

About Dr Christopher Orton

Dr Orton’s NHS base is the Royal Brompton Hospital, a highly specialised heart and lung hospital, where he is a core member of the lung cancer service, working in partnership with the Royal Marden Hospital.

Through his continued links with Imperial College London, Dr Orton is highly active in basic science and clinical research, conducting studies, supervising PhD students, and publishing papers in high-impact medical journals.

Dr Christopher Orton graduated from St George’s Hospital Medical School with MBBS and a BSc in Biochemistry and Immunology. Having completed his general medical and respiratory specialty training in London, Dr Orton has worked at prestigious teaching hospitals, including Hammersmith Hospital, St Mary’s Hospital, St George’s Hospital, and the Royal Brompton Hospital. Dr Orton has completed a PhD with Imperial College London on the effects of epithelial resurfacing with liquid nitrogen on patients with COPD.

Research Highlights

• Orton CM, Shah PL, Grinsztejn B, Donaldson GC, Crabtree Ramírez B, Tonkin T, Santos BR, Cardoso SW, Ritchie AI, Conway F, Diniz MP, Wiseman DJ, Tana A, Vijayakumar B, Caneja C, Leaper C, Mann B, Samson A, Bhavsar PK, Boffito M, Johnson MR, Pozniak A, Pelly M for the PIONEER trial group members. Favipiravir in patients hospitalised with COVID-19 (PIONEER Trial): a randomised controlled trial of early intervention versus standard care. Lancet Respir Med (2022) Dec 14. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2213-2600(22)00412-X
• Harrison J, Saccente-Kennedy B, Orton CM, McCarthy LP, Archer J, Symons HE, Szczepanska AK, Watson NA, Browne WJ, Moseley B, Philip KE. Emission Rates, Size Distributions, and Generation Mechanism of Oral Respiratory Droplets. Aerosol Science and Technology. 2022 Dec 14(just-accepted):1-4.
• Saccente-Kennedy B, Archer J, Symons HE, Watson NA, Orton CM, Browne WJ, Harrison J, Calder JD, Shah PL, Costello D, Reid JP. Quantification of Respirable Aerosol Particles from Speech and Language Therapy Exercises. Journal of Voice. 2022 Aug 26.

• Orton CM, Symons HE, Moseley B, Archer J, Watson NA, Philip KE, Sheikh S, Saccente-Kennedy B, Costello D, Browne WJ, Calder JD, Bzdek BR, Hull JH, Reid JP, Shah PL. A comparison of respiratory particle emission rates at rest and while speaking or exercising. Communications Medicine. 2022 Apr 19;2(1):1-9. DOI:s43856-022-00103-w
• Archer J, McCarthy LP, Symons HE, Watson NA, Orton CM, Browne WJ, Harrison J, Moseley B, Philip KE, Calder JD, Shah PL. Comparing aerosol number and mass exhalation rates from children and adults during breathing, speaking and singing. Interface Focus. 2022;12(2):20210078.
• Vijayakumar B, Boustani K, Ogger PP, Papadaki A, Tonkin J, Orton CM, Ghai P, Suveizdyte K, Hewitt RJ, Desai SR, Devaraj A, Snelgrove RJ, Molyneaux PL, Garner JL, Peters JE, Shah PL, Lloyd CM, Harker JA. Immuno-proteomic profiling reveals aberrant immune cell regulation in the airways of individuals with ongoing post-COVD-19 respiratory disease. Immunity. 2022 Jan 26.
• Mercer RM, Mishra E, Banka R, Corcoran JP, Daneshvar C, Panchal RK, Saba T, Caswell M, Johnstone S, Menzies D, Ahmer S, Shahidi M, Clive AO, Gautam M, Cox G, Orton C, Lyons J, Maddekar N, Fonseka D, Prior K, Barnes S, Robinson G, Brown L, Munavvar M, Shah PL, Hallifax RJ, Blyth KG, Hedley E, Maskell NA, Gerry S, Miller RF, Rahman RM, Kemp SK. A randomised controlled trial of intrapleural balloon intercostal chest drains to prevent drain displacement. European Respiratory Journal. 2022 Jan 1. DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01753-2021

• Gregson FK, Sheikh S, Archer J, Symons HE, Walker JS, Haddrell AE, Orton CM, Hamilton FW, Brown JM, Bzdek BR, Reid JP. Analytical challenges when sampling and characterising exhaled aerosol. Aerosol Science and Technology. 2021 Oct 7:1-6.
• Vijayakumar B, Tonkin J, Devaraj A, Philip KE, Orton CM, Desai SR, Shah PL. CT Lung Abnormalities after COVID-19 at 3 Months and 1 Year after Hospital Discharge. Radiology. 2021 Oct 5:211746.
• Orton CM, McCarthy LP, Watson NA, Gregson FK, Haddrell AE, Browne WJ, Calder JD, Costello D, Reid JP, Shah PL, Bzdek BR. Aerosol and droplet generation from performing with woodwind and brass instruments. Aerosol Science and Technology. 2021 Jun 29:1-1. Doi: 10.1080/02786826.2021.1947470
• Orton CM*, Gregson FK*, Watson NA*, Haddrell AE, McCarthy LP, Finnie TJ, Gent N, Donaldson GC, Shah PL, Calder JD, Bzdek BR, Costello D, Reid JP. Comparing aerosol concentrations and particle size distributions generated by singing, speaking and breathing. Aerosol Science and Technology. 2021 Feb 3:1-4. doi: 10.1080/02786826.2021.1883544 *Joint first author

• Shah PL, Orton C. Epithelial Resurfacing: The Bronchial Skin Peel. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Sep 1;202(5):641-642. doi: 10.1164/rccm.202004-1097ED.
• Garner J, Shaipanich T, Hartman J, Orton C, Caneja C, Klooster K, Thornton J, Sin D, Slebos D, Shah P. A Prospective Safety and Feasibility Study of Metered CryoSpray (MCS) for Patients with Chronic Bronchitis in COPD. European Respiratory Journal. Jan 2020, 2000556. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00556-2020
• Orton CM, Garner JL, Desai SR, Kemp SV, Shah PL. Aspergillus Cavitation Complicating Endobronchial Lung Volume Reduction Coil Placement. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2020 Feb 1;201(3):e8-e9. doi: 10.1164/rccm.201906-1176IM. PMID: 31469578.
• Hull JH, Walsted ES, Orton CM, Williams P, Ward S, Pavitt MJ. Feasibility of portable continuous laryngoscopy during exercise testing. European Respiratory Journal. Open Res. 2019 Feb 4;5(1):00219-2018. doi: 10.1183/23120541.00219-2018. PMID: 30740460. PMCID: PMC6360209.