Blogs
When is
Cardiothoracic Surgery Necessary ?
Key Indicators & Interventions
Cardiothoracic surgery covers a wide spectrum of operations on the heart, lungs, and great vessels.
Deciding when surgery is appropriate is never straightforward — it requires careful evaluation of the patient’s condition, comorbidities, and the balance of risks and potential benefits.
Circulatory Support
Circulatory support is the ICU’s and OR’s safety net for refractory shock. ECMO, temporary percutaneous ventricular assist devices (pVADs), and hybrid strategies now require integrated surgical, cardiology, perfusion, and critical-care workflows.
Authors: Clark G. Owyang, MD, Brady Rippon, MS,
Originally Published 9
Coronary Surgery
Coronary disease remains the single largest surgical workload. CABG outcomes now reflect not just the anastomosis but conduit choice, CABG vs PCI selection, and system-level coordination.
Authors: Richard Ramsingh, MD and Faisal G. Bakaeen, MD
Originally Published March 2025
Valve Surgery
Valve disease management now spans open repair, minimally invasive surgery (MIVS), and transcatheter therapies (TAVR, TMVR). The MDT must weigh durability, frailty, anatomy, and patient goals.
Authors: Ryaan El-Andari MD a, Abeline R. Watkins BSc b, Nicholas M. Fialka MD a, Jimmy J.H. Kang MD a, Sabin J. Bozso MD, PhD a, Ali Fatehi Hassanabad MD, PhD c, Vishnu Vasanthan MD c, Corey Adams MD c, Richard Cook MD d, Michael C. Moon MD a, Jeevan Nagendran MD, PhD a, William Kent MD, MSc
Published September 2024
Aortic Surgery
Aortic aneurysm and dissection management requires surgical judgment, endovascular skill, anesthetic coordination, and perfusion planning — classic multidisciplinary practice.
Authors: Martin Czerny, Martin Grabenwöger, Tim Berger, Victor Aboyans, Alessandro Della Corte, Edward P. Chen, NimeshBartosz Rylski, Christopher L. Schlett, Florian Schoenhoff, Santi Trimarchi, Konstantinos Tsagakis, EACTS/STS Scientific Document Group, Matthias Siepe, Anthony L. Estrera, Joseph E. Bavaria, Davide Pacini,
Published July 2024
Cardiac Anesthesia
Cardiac anesthesia coordinates induction, transesophageal echo (TEE), hemodynamic optimization, and immediate postoperative care — central to team outcomes.
Authors: Annemarie Thompson, MD, MBA, FAHA, Kirsten E.
Published 24 September 2024
Minimally Invasive
Minimally invasive and robotic approaches reduce surgical trauma, speed recovery, and expand options — but they require tight MDT coordination and specialized pathways.
Author: Jack Ng Kok Wah
Published July 2025
Pediatric Surgery
Pediatric cardiac surgery requires unique devices, growth considerations, and a lifetime-care perspective. Ventricular assist devices (VADs) and ECMO have become core pediatric resources.
Authors: Eric R. Griffiths, Michael P. Profsky, Deepa
Published March 2025
Thoracic Surgery
Thoracic teams now must decide when local consolidative therapy (including resection) adds survival benefit to systemic care for selected stage IV patients — a quintessential multidisciplinary decision.
Authors: Mara B. Antonoff, Kyle G. Mitchell, Samuel S. Kim,
Published March 2025
Perfusion Technology
Perfusionists (and their protocols) are central to safe cardiac surgery. Advances in circuits, cardioplegia, microcirculatory monitoring, and perfusion protocols directly reduce complications.
Published 14 February 2025