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About Us
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| Division Overview |
Adult Cardiac Surgery |
| Cardiothoracic Transplantation |
Artificial Heart Program/Ventricular Assist Devices |
| Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery |
Center for Thoracic Aortic Disease |
| Contact Information |
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 Division Overview
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The mission of the Division of Cardiac Surgery is to provide a multi-disciplinary approach to patient care and provide an environment to evaluate innovative therapy. During the past decade, our full-time faculty grew to 15, with accompanying growth in clinical volume.
The Division is comprised of the following sections:
• Section of Adult Cardiac Surgery
• Section of Cardiothoracic Transplant
• Section of Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Section of Cardiac Stem Cell
The Division provides services at the following hospitals:
• UPMC Presbyterian
• UPMC Shadyside
• UPMC Passavant
• Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
• VA-Oakland
The Division is affiliated with the Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center under the direction of Dr. James D. Luketich.
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Adult Cardiac Surgery
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UPMC’s Division of Adult Cardiac Surgery of the Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute offers access to a full spectrum of cardiac surgical services including coronary artery bypass graft surgery, valve replacement and repair, and aneurysm and aortic dissection repair.
In addition to traditional, open procedures, the division offers minimally invasive surgery, which has the potential to lessen post-operative pain, lower the instance of complications, and facilitate a quicker recovery compared with traditional, open surgery. In fact, UPMC surgeons helped pioneer the application of minimally invasive techniques to heart surgery, performing the first minimally invasive coronary bypass (MIDCAB) graft in the tristate region.
These minimally invasive approaches have been expanded to valve surgery and the use of robotics, and UPMC cardiac surgeons have also developed new techniques for durable valve repair on both mitral and aortic valves.
Other subspecialties include ventricular restoration procedures for heart failure, surgery to correct atrial fibrillation, treatment of constrictive pericarditis and treatment for hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM).
UPMC surgeons tailor their approach to the individual patient for optimal results. Through the use of techniques such as minimally invasive direct coronary bypass surgery (MIDCAB) and off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB), UPMC specialists can successfully operate on patients who may be too ill to undergo surgery at other centers. |
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Cardiothoracic Transplantation
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Headed by Yoshiya Toyoda, MD, PhD, UPMC's Cardiothoracic Transplantation Program is one of the few nationwide to have performed more than 1,000 cardiac transplants and 900 lung or heart-lung transplants. This experience helped UPMC lead the nation in lung and heart-lung transplants in 2005. UPMC surgeons perform more than 40 heart and heart-lung transplantations each year with promising outcomes. Some UPMC cardiothoracic transplant recipients are now approaching 25 years of post-surgery survival, and UPMC clinicians consistently strive to improve outcomes following transplantation. Additionally, the UPMC program continually focuses resources on clinical care and research in transplantation and surgical treatment of heart failure to offer patients optimal treatment options.
An example of this continued effort, Dr. Kenneth McCurry, recently performed
the first beating heart transplant in the United States. Dr. McCurry transplanted a beating heart supported by an investigational organ preservation device into a 47-year-old man suffering from congestive heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. The Organ Care System (OCS), manufactured by TransMedics Inc., revives the donor heart to a beating state, perfuses it with oxygen and nutrient-rich blood, and maintains the appropriate temperature until implantation. Dr. McCurry believes the OCS has the potential to “reduce injury and help extend the life of these organs, which also will improve patient outcomes with less rejection and shorter length of ICU and hospital stay.”
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Artificial Heart Program/Ventricular Assist Devices
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A ventricular-assist device, or VAD, may be surgically implanted to help the heart circulate blood more effectively in a patient whose heart has been weakened by disease or injury. Also referred to as mechanical circulatory support devices, these artificial hearts are frequently used as bridges to heart transplantation and allow patients to live in a healthier state until a donor organ becomes available. Under the direction of Dr. Robert Kormos, physicians of the UPMC Artificial Heart Program are pioneering exciting new therapies involving VADs that have led some patients’ hearts to heal, eliminating the need for a transplant and demonstrating the remarkable rejuvenating potential that resting the heart can have.
The Artificial Heart Program celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2006. Among the most experienced teams in the world, UPMC has treated more than 250 patients with mechanical circulatory support devices, and more than 75 percent of those patients have undergone successful heart transplantation.
Since 1990, when the first patient ever to be discharged from a hospital with a VAD was discharged from UPMC Presbyterian, UPMC experts have joined with the McGowan Institute for Regenerative medicine to lead clinical and technical innovations that have improved survival rates and quality of life for patients.
The spectrum of care from evaluation to therapy to discharge and community support is accomplished through the multidisciplinary efforts of the UPMC Cardiovascular Institute’s interventional and congestive heart failure cardiologists, biomedical engineers and a team of specialized nurses. |
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Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery
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The Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery Division at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC provides surgical intervention for infants, children and young adults with congenital cardiac and vascular diseases, congenital abnormalities of the tracheobronchial tree and abnormalities of the chest wall. The division also has expertise in cardiac arrhythmia surgery. Headed by Dr. Victor Morell, the division encompasses heart, lung and heart-lung transplantation, including bridges to transplant such as left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which provides support for infants and neonates with respiratory distress.
An ongoing program of parent and patient education about cardiothoracic surgery is conducted under the direction of a pediatric nurse practitioner and physician assistants. Staff members also serve as compassionate liaisons between families, physicians and other hospital personnel.
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Center for Thoracic Aortic Disease
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Led by Dr. Thomas G. Gleason, the division’s new Center for Thoracic Aortic Disease specializes in the treatment of aortic aneurysms and dissections, including valve-sparing aortic root replacement and open and endovascular repairs of thoracic aortic aneurysms, dissections, and traumatic injuries. This multidisciplinary center manages patients both medically and surgically, combining the services of cardiac surgeons, cardiologists, geneticists, radiologists, vascular surgeons and neurologists to break down communication barriers and more closely collaborate on treatment planning.
Pre-hospital referral and transfer of a thoracic aortic emergency - like an aortic dissection, ruptured aneurysm, or traumatic aortic injury - now can be rapidly facilitated with a single phone call from the patient or provider to the center's hotline. Patients suffering from thoracic aortic disease now have immediate access to the most state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment strategies for thoracic aortic diseases, including:
- the use of minimally invasive endovascular thoracic aortic repairs with stent grafts
- three-dimensional, volume-rendered, computed tomographic and magnetic resonance angiography
- comprehensive neurocerebral and spinal cord protection protocols to optimize neurologic outcomes
- reconstruction of the aortic root with aortic valve-preserving strategies, including techniques designed and championed by the Center's own surgeons.
To refer a patient for a comprehensive evaluation, please call 412-647-7070. For emergencies and immediate referrals, please call 412-647-7000.
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Contact Information
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The Heart, Lung and Esophageal Surgery Institute
Division of Cardiac Surgery
UPMC Presbyterian
Suite C-700
200 Lothrop St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Phone: (412) 648-6200
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