Cardiothoracic and Cardiac Surgery

One of the Nation's Most Respected Cardiothoracic and Cardiac Surgery Centers

The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Emory is one of the largest and most successful cardiothoracic and cardiac surgery services in the country. Staffed by a team made up of surgeons who are also faculty members of the Department of Surgery of the Emory University School of Medicine, the division's five primary services are adult cardiac surgery, adult cardiac transplantation, congenital cardiac surgery, general thoracic surgery and adult lung transplantation. Adult cardiac surgery, adult cardiac transplantation and congenital cardiac surgery are components of the Emory Heart & Vascular Center, which encompasses all Emory-affiliated cardiology services and research.

Consistently Ranked Among the Top Academic Centers in the Nation in Clinical Volume

The division offers more procedures than any other cardiothoracic service in Georgia, including:

• Heart transplant (Emory's 500th adult heart transplant was performed in March 2008, a milestone that coincided with Emory's celebration of the 20th anniversary of its heart transplant program. Emory cardiothoracic surgeons had also performed more than 200 pediatric heart transplants at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston by that date)
• Minimally invasive coronary bypass surgery (Emory's cardiovascular surgeon team performed Georgia's first closed chest, off-pump cardiac bypass in 2003)
• Off-pump coronary artery bypass
• Minimally invasive mitral valve repair and replacement
• Valve-sparing aortic root replacement
• Revascularization of acute myocardial infarction
• Trans-myocardial laser revascularization for angina with coronary blockage that cannot be bypassed
• Left ventricular remodeling for heart failure with left ventricular aneurysm
• Complex redo valve and coronary bypass surgery
• Resection of thoracic and thoraco-abdominal aneurysms
• Staged treatment of hypoplastic left heart syndrome
• Early complete repair of complex intracardiac congenital lesions
• Implantation of ventricular assist devices by a cardiovascular surgeon as a bridge to heart transplant or as a form of destination therapy for patients who are not eligible for or unwilling to undergo a transplant
• Tracheal surgery
• Lung transplant
• Lung-volume reduction surgery
• Lobectomy, bilobectomy, pneumonectomy (minimally invasive and open)
• Colon interposition for esophageal replacement
• Resection of advanced pulmonary malignancies
• Extrapleural pneumonectomy for mesothelioma
• Esophagectomy (minimally invasive and open)
• Microthoracoscopic sympathectomy for hyperhidrosis
• Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery

In addition to developing innovative methods of performing cardiac surgery, including complex coronary revascularization, repairing thoracic aortic aneurysms and repairing and/or replacing damaged heart valves, the members of Emory’s cardiovascular surgeon team have become international experts and teachers of such minimally invasive procedures as off-pump coronary artery bypass and endovascular atraumatic coronary artery bypass.

Built on a Foundation of Forward-Looking Research

The nationally known Cardiothoracic Research Laboratory of the Carlyle Fraser Heart Center conducts basic and translational research in cardiac surgery; cardiovascular diseases and treatment; trains basic science and clinical investigators to be leaders in cardiovascular research and therapeutics; and develops innovative strategies and devices for our cardiovascular surgeon team to treat cardiovascular diseases. Faculty researchers have made major contributions to the current practice of cardiac surgery by devising methods of protecting the heart during open heart surgery and refining and testing a method for prevention of calcification of bioprosthetic heart valves. Current laboratory efforts are focused on resurrection of dying heart cells at the time of a heart attack and the use of stem cells to assist in the recovery of the heart after a myocardial infarction.

Clinical research in cardiac surgery is undertaken by the Clinical Research Unit, composed of a cardiovascular surgeon team, research nurses and biostatisticians devoted to developing new techniques and technologies in cardiothoracic surgery through various studies and clinical trials. An example is the SMART study conducted by Dr. John Puskas and his research team that established the efficacy of off-pump coronary bypass in providing complete revascularization with patency rates equivalent to conventional coronary artery bypass graft surgery with a decreased hospital morbidity.

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