Providing First-Class Care Across Heart & Cardiovascular Disorders
The mission of the Division of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery is to deliver superior quality, value-based care in an academic environment. The division works to accomplish its mission through a collaborative research enterprise and training programs that empower aspiring surgeons to become future physician leaders.
Areas of Focus
The division is dedicated to excellence in cardiovascular and thoracic care. Its highly skilled and compassionate board-certified surgeons treat a range of heart disease and cardiovascular disorders, incorporating multidisciplinary care teams from which patients benefit from expertise across specialties.
The division’s faculty includes national and international leaders in cardiovascular medicine who work alongside cardiologists, vascular surgeons, critical care cardiac surgeons and advanced practice providers to deliver unparalleled, patient-centered care.
Care programs within the division address the following conditions and more:
- Ischemic heart disease: The division specializes in coronary artery bypass grafting, an operation that improves blood flow to the heart by routing fresh blood to bypass clogged arteries, relieving symptoms and helping patients live longer.
- Heart valve disease: Expert surgeons within the division are skilled at valve repair and replacement operations, using traditional, minimally invasive and catheter-based approaches to treat valvular and structural heart disease.
- Heart transplant and mechanical circulatory support: The division provides support to patients with advanced heart failure, with options such as permanent and temporary ventricular assist devices as destination therapy or for those needing heart transplantation.
- Aortic disease management: The division provides empathetic treatment for aortic conditions, leveraging state-of-the-art technology and innovative devices under clinical evaluation. The division specializes in a range of aortic issues, including thoracic and thoracoabdominal aortic aneurysms, all types of aortic dissection and connective tissue disorders such as Marfan syndrome, among others.
The division engages in innovative research, striving for continuous improvement in surgical techniques and patient outcomes. This is possible with the work of highly accomplished clinical outcomes research using administrative datasets and novel clinical trials.
Trainees and faculty present their work at all major international meetings in cardiothoracic surgery and have published their results in high-impact peer-reviewed journals.
Undergraduate medical education: The division offers Dell Medical School students a four-week elective rotation with experience in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. Division Chief George Arnaoutakis, M.D., serves as the course director.
Graduate medical education: The division provides regular rotation for trainees in Dell Med’s General Surgery Residency at Brooke Army Medical Center. The program’s faculty members provide residents with robust experience in cardiovascular and thoracic surgery.
Our division is dedicated to saving lives and restoring health, with a commitment that our patients and their families experience compassion and support every step of the way.
George Arnaoutakis, Division Chief