Cardiothoracic Surgery in Florida

Services

Cardiothoracic Surgery specializes in all surgical procedures related to congenital and acquired defects of the heart, lungs, esophagus, diaphragm and great vessels in adults.

Surgical procedures and areas of specialization include:

Heart

• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG): Mayo Clinic surgeons do bypass surgery on and off "the pump," the heart-lung bypass machine. Leg veins used for the bypass are usually removed endoscopically via tiny incisions, reducing the patient's discomfort and easing recovery. Bypass surgery is done to detour around coronary artery blockages that cannot be successfully treated with medication or heart catheterization with angioplasty.
  
  
• Heart valve repair or replacement. Mayo Clinic surgeons are experienced in complex procedures, including mitral valve repairs to treat atrial fibrillation and repair of annuloaortic ectasia while sparing the aortic valve. (The condition is commonly seen in patients with connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan's syndrome.)
  
  
• Repair of aortic aneurysms and dissections. Mayo cardiothoracic surgeons have extensive experience repairing aortic dissections and aortic aneurysms located above the diaphragm. An aortic dissection occurs when blood pushes into a tear in the inner layer of the aortic wall and separates it from the outer layer.
  
  
• Aortic root replacements. The aortic root is located where the aorta meets the heart. This procedure is done to treat ascending aortic aneurysms or aortic root dilation (a bulge in the artery where it enters the heart).
  
  
• MAZE procedure. A surgical technique used to cure atrial fibrillation. Surgeons create multiple cuts in the muscle of the atria and then stitch them back together. These incision lines interfere with stray electrical pathways and circuits that cause atrial fibrillation.
  
  
• Ventricular assist devices. VADs, also called artificial hearts, are surgically implanted in patients who need temporary support while recovering from open heart surgery or waiting for a transplant.
  
  
• Heart transplantation.
  
  
• Minimally invasive thoracoscopic insertion of pacing wires. This is usually done when implanting a heart pacemaker in the normal way is not possible or poses too high a risk for the patient.
  
  
• Heart or cardiac tumors.

Lungs

• Lung transplantation
  
  
• Lung cancer surgery. Mayo Clinic thoracic surgeons work closely with pulmonologists, oncologists and radiation oncologists to evaluate each patient's options and develop the best treatment plan. Complex cases are reviewed and discussed at a weekly conference of physicians from relevant specialties. Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a minimally invasive procedure used to obtain a biopsy without opening the chest. Mayo Clinic's designation as a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute makes it possible to offer patients clinical trials and new treatments in a coordinated way. Early and advanced cancers are treated aggressively. Procedures range from removing a small portion of the lung (wedge resection) to removing the entire lung (pneumonectomy). For tumors that lie against the bronchus, a "sleeve" resection may be done. In this procedure, a portion of the lung and bronchus are removed and the remaining bronchus is reattached to the lung. Cancers that have spread or metastasized from other organs to the lungs are removed surgically (lung metastectomy) when appropriate.
  
  
• Surgical treatment of lung infections
  
  
• Surgery to remove tracheal tumors

Esophagus

• Esophageal procedures for cancers and other disorders. Esophagectomy is the surgical removal of the esophagus and a small portion of the stomach. It is commonly done to treat esophageal cancers.
  
  
• Repairing a tracheal-esophageal fistula, an abnormal passage between the trachea and the esophagus, to prevent aspiration.

Mediastinal procedures

The mediastinum is the space between the two lungs and the organs and tissues it contains. The organs include the heart and its large vessels, trachea, esophagus, thymus, lymph nodes and connective tissue. Common procedures include:

• Mediastinoscopy: inserting a special endoscope to obtain a biopsy of mediastinal tissue. Cancers that have spread from their original sites may invade the mediastinum. If a biopsy proves a tumor to be cancerous, surgical removal is immediately considered.
  
  
• Removal of mediastinal tumors.
  
  
• Thymectomy for myasthenia gravis: surgical removal of the thymus gland, which may be done to control myasthenia gravis, a rare muscular disorder causing profound weakness.

Pleural procedures

The pleura is a two-layer membrane that lines the chest cavity and surrounds both lungs.

• Video Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) pleurodesis. This minimally invasive endoscopic procedure involves roughing up and applying talc to the pleura to form scarring. It is done to control a pneumothorax or hydrothorax, the collection of air or fluids in the pleural cavity, which can occur following chest trauma, emphysema or lung surgery.
  
  
• Pleural resections: removing the pleural sac or sections of it.
  
  
• Empyema repair: Inserting a temporary or permanent plastic drain in the chest to control infection in the pleural space.
  
  
• Repairing bronchopleural fistula, an abnormal passage between the bronchus and the pleura.

Nerve procedure for uncontrollable sweating

• Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) is a procedure done with the Department of Neurosurgery to manage uncontrollable sweating (hyperhidrosis). A thoracic surgeon provides video-assisted thoracoscopic access, which allows a neurosurgeon to sever the relevant sympathetic nerve in the chest cavity.

Chest wall procedures

• Pectus repair: a cosmetic procedure to correct a concave chest wall (pectus excavatum).
  
  
• Removal of chest wall tumors to control potentially invasive or spreading cancer.