Healthcare at West Virginia University

The WVU Heart Institute

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Cardiothoracic Surgery

Our cardiothoracic surgeons are recognized for their expertise in a wide range of procedures.

The cardiac surgical section performs between 650-700 cardiac surgical procedures and 300 thoracic surgical procedures each year. These services are performed in state-of-the-art facilities staffed by experienced healthcare professionals committed to providing the best possible care for the patient.

When possible, our surgeons use a minimally invasive or keyhole approach. Even in traditional coronary bypass surgery, most cases are performed without the use of a heart lung machine, reducing the stress on patients. The off-pump technique enables the cardiologist to perform surgery on multiple vessels within the beating heart.

Minimally invasive approaches are also used for heart valve replacements to reduce discomfort and unusual procedures such as replacements of the valve with blood vessels (aortic root replacements) utilizing preserved tissue (homografts) are available.

WVU is the only institution in the region that performs minimally invasive mitral valve repair and replacement on a consistent basis.

New types of surgery to treat arrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation are being initiated.

A new procedure our cardiothoracic service is providing is Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR) using a Holmium:YAG laser to treat severe angina in patients with chronic angina and whose symptoms are not relieved by medication.

The procedure can be used in conjunction with traditional bypass surgery or as an isolated therapy. WVU is the only center in the region performing the procedure as an isolated therapy. TMR may be used for:

• People who are high-risk candidates for a second or third bypass, angioplasty, or stenting
• People whose blockages are too diffuse to be treated with bypass alone, or who do not have suitable conduits
• Some patients with heart transplants who develop atherosclerosis after their transplant

Procedures performed at the WVU Heart Institute include:

• Aortic surgery
• Aortic root transplant
• Congenital cardiac surgery
• Coronary artery bypass surgery
• Implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD)
• Minimally invasive cardiac surgery
• Minimally invasive aortic valve replacement
• Minimally invasive atrial septal defect closure
• Minimally invasive mitral valve repair and replacement
• Minimally invasive radiofrequency ablation for atrial fibrillation (Mini Maze procedure)
• Off-pump coronary bypass surgery
• Pacemaker
• Pacemaker and ICD lead extraction
• Robot-assisted cardiac surgery (da Vinci robot)
• Surgical ventricular remodeling
• Thoracic endograph stents
• Transmyocardial laser revascularization
• Ventricular assist devices

The Cardiothoracic Surgery Team

• Jose Cruzzavala, MD
• Kevin J. Tveter, MD