Cardiothoracic
The Cardiovascular Anesthesia Service provides training for residents and three Cardiac Anesthesia Fellow in management of cardiac, major vascular and thoracic procedures. The training covers preoperative evaluation, invasive monitoring, hemodynamic optimization, transesophageal echocardiography, management of cardiopulmonary bypass, total circulatory arrest, and postoperative care of the patient having cardiac, vascular or thoracic surgery. Intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an integral part of our clinical practice. All cardiac cases are archived in a digital archive system for reporting, billing and teaching. Our faculty has expertise in management of patients for heart and lung transplantation, ventricular assist device placement and pulmonary or esophageal resections.
We are a referral center for complex aortic surgery, including acute dissections, ascending aneurysms and traumatic aortic injuries. Our cardiac and vascular surgeons work together using minimally invasive approaches in the treatment of descending thoracic and abdominal aortic aneurysms as well as in acute aortic dissections. We currently perform 35-45 heart transplantations and 55-65 lung transplants on an annual basis.
Our thoracic surgery service performs complex surgeries for patients with lung cancer and infectious etiologies and is a major referral center for airway reconstruction surgeries. In addition, we provide anesthesia care for patients in the adult catheterization laboratories. This includes electrophysiology studies, RF ablations, ICD, and device placements. We are also available on a consult basis for management of non-cardiothoracic surgeries for patients with congenital heart disease and pulmonary hypertension.
Each month we have four residents on cardiac rotation who are assigned to cardiac, vascular and thoracic cases in multiple locations to obtain the appropriate number and quality of cases for their anesthesia training.
Our Cardiac Anesthesia Fellowship prepares trainees to be experts in cardiac, vascular and thoracic anesthesia. Fellows also play an active role in teaching residents, medical students, and to contribute in the academic setting. We are an ACGME accredited training institution exposing trainees to the full scope of this subspecialty. Following completion of a rigorous clinical year, fellows are expected to pass the TEE Board Examination and be eligible for full TEE Board Certification. We very much welcome quality applicants to our residency and Cardiothoracic Fellowship programs.