U.S.News & World Report has ranked Thomas Jefferson University Hospital higher than any other hospital in the Delaware Valley for heart surgery and 15th in the nation.

As part of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital’s Department of Surgery, the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery’s full-time staff of cardiothoracic surgeons performed more than 600 major cardiac operations this year. State-of-the-art procedures included:

• Arterial revascularization for coronary artery disease
• Coronary artery bypass without the use of the heart-lung machine
• Aortic valve replacements, mitral valve reconstructions
• Transmyocardial revascularizations (TMR)

The use of arteries rather than veins for coronary artery bypass has been shown to be beneficial. Our long-term success using the internal mammary (thoracic) artery as a bypass conduit has been well established and, more recently, the use of radial arteries and other arterial conduits has been promising. For certain high-risk patients such as the elderly or those with renal failure, respiratory problems, cerebrovascular disease or other systemic diseases, our skilled surgeons offer off-pump coronary by-pass surgery, available only at a handful of medical centers around the country.

This procedure uses a stabilization device that allows surgeons to graft coronary arteries without using the heart-lung machine. Instead of stopping the heart on the heart-lung machine, the cardiothoracic team positions the heart using the stabilization device. While the heart continues to beat, pumping its own blood, our surgeons complete the bypass with less heparin. The off-pump surgery also benefits patients by reducing the slight risk of stroke and eliminating temporary cognitive decline after surgery.

Traditionally mechanical or biologic stented prostheses have been used for aortic valve replacement. More recently, our surgeons find the use of stentless biologic valves and cryo-preserved aortic valves very promising for patients because of their superior performance and longevity in aortic valve replacement. Mitral valve repair and reconstruction, rather than replacement, has become commonplace at Jefferson University Hospital.

With the TMR procedure Jefferson University Hospital surgeons now use lasers to treat areas of the heart that cannot be revascularized by any other means. Using the FDA-approved Eclipse laser, our surgeons are able to make channels that help the patient’s blood supply get to the heart. This procedure is ideal for patients with small vessel disease.