About Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialists - Suite 166

The heart and vascular experts at Methodist Physicians Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialists offer extensive surgical services for the full range of heart and vascular conditions.

Our practice and team

From traditional, open procedures to minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery options, our heart and vascular surgery specialists are known for offering a full spectrum of services—including heart transplant, aortic aneurysm repairs, left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), heart valve repair or replacement, mechanical circulator support, and much more. Each surgeon is fellowship-trained and board certified, giving patients the best care possible. The providers perform procedures as part of Methodist Heart Institute’s Heart Failure Center.

Mechanical circulatory support

For patients with advanced heart failure awaiting a heart transplant, or who are not eligible for a heart transplant, our Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialists offer mechanical circulatory support and ventricular assist devices, or VADs. VADs are mechanical pumps that are implanted in the chest that helps circulate blood from the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart) to the rest of the body. Our team specializes in surgeries dealing with the following:

  • Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Implantation and Management
  • Bridge to Transplantation
  • Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS)
  • Post-Cardiotomy Shock
  • High Risk Cardiac Surgery (High-risk, Reoperative)
  • Destination Therapy Left Ventricular Assist Devices (DT LVAD)
    • CentriMag
    • HeartMate II
    • Impella
  • HeartAssist5
  • Thoratec pVAD and Thoratec iVAD Bridge to Recovery
  • HeartMate XVE
  • TandemHeart

Aortic surgery

The team also offers first-class treatment for aortic aneurysms, including thoracic aortic aneurysms and abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs), along with other conditions affecting the aorta, like aortoiliac disease. Our doctors and experienced medical teams are recognized as regional leaders in treating vascular conditions and are specially trained in performing these life-saving surgeries.

Our Methodist Heart and Lung Institute Aortic Center team provides patients treatment plans from critical to advanced therapy measures to those who have been diagnosed with an aortic aneurysm to reduce the need for surgery. The team specializes in:

  • Aortic arch surgery
  • Aortic root procedures and replacements
  • Aortic valve repair
  • Ascending aortic aneurysm repair
  • Complex open aorta repair
  • Connective tissue disorder valve repair and replacement
  • Diseases of the aorta
  • Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
  • Endovascular aorta repair and stent grafts
  • Heart valve disease, repair and replacement
  • Marfan Syndrome
  • Myocardial revascularization

Heart transplants

Members of the Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Program performed the 500th heart transplant for the program in the Spring of 2020. Methodist Hospital is the first and only heart transplant program in South Texas to reach this clinical milestone.

The heart transplant team from Methodist Healthcare meets regularly to discuss a transplant candidate’s needs and the likelihood of a successful transplantation. If a patient is approved for the procedure, he/she is placed on the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) waiting list for a donor heart. Surgeons from Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialists can perform both the procurement of a donor heart and the transplantation into our patient. And after the surgery, the surgeons work with the transplant program team to monitor the patient’s recovery and provide post-transplant education and support services.