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Thoracic surgery is often discussed together with cardiac surgery. Thus, Cardiothoracic Surgery is the field of medicine involved in the surgical treatment of diseases affecting organs inside the thorax (chest). Generally, these include treatment of conditions of the heart (heart disease) and lungs (lung disease). Although cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery are separate surgical specialties, they are frequently grouped together as Cardiothoracic Surgery. A cardiothoracic surgeon will perform surgery within the realm of both cardiac and thoracic surgery.
Thoracic surgery generally refers to surgery of the chest other than the heart. Thoracic surgery encompasses the operative, perioperative, and surgical critical care of patients with acquired and congenital pathologic conditions within the chest. Included is the usrgical repair of heart lesions, and congenital and acquired conditions of the coronary arteries, valves, and myocardium. It also includes pathologic conditions of the lung, esophagus, and chest wall, abnormalities of the great vessels, tumors of the mediastinum, and diseases of the diaphragm and pericardium. Management of the airways and injuries to the chest are also within the scope of the specialty.
The purpose of thoracic surgery is to treat diseased or injured organs in the thorax, including the esophagus (muscular tube that passes food to the stomach), trachea (windpipe that branches to form the right bronchus and the left bronchus), pleura (membranes that cover and protect the lung), mediastinum (area separating the left and right lungs), chest wall, diaphragm, heart, and lungs. The most common diseases requiring thoracic surgery include lung cancer, chest trauma, esophageal cancer, emphysema, and lung transplantation.
More specifically, thoracic surgery is the repair of organs located in the thorax, or chest. The thoracic cavity lies between the neck and the diaphragm, and contains the heart and lungs (cardiopulmonary system), the esophagus, trachea, pleura, mediastinum, chest wall, and diaphragm. Thoracic surgery repairs diseased or injured organs and tissues in the thoracic cavity. General thoracic surgery deals specifically with disorders of the lungs and esophagus. Cardiothoracic surgery also encompasses disorders of the heart and pericardium. Blunt chest trauma, reflux esophagitis, esophageal cancer, lung transplantation, lung cancer, and emphysema are just a few of the many clinical indications for thoracic surgery.
Medical Opinions Associates can arrange for the services of Board-certified medical experts in thoracic surgery. One of our panel of thoracic surgery experts is an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery in the University of California medical school system. He is active in the transplantation service acting at various times as primary, assistant, or harvesting surgeon in lung transplants. Clinically, he is involved with minimally-invasive thoracic surgery, laser therapeutics, and thoracic oncology. Another medical expert is an Assistant Staff Surgeon in Cardiothoracic Surgery at a Florida medical school. Another has been in private practice in a North Carolina surgical group doing cardiothoracic and vascular surgery. Medical Opinions Associates also has the services of a general and thoracic surgeon in New York City who is Director of the Cardiothoracic ICU at a New York City hospital and handles all aspects of adult coronary, valvular, and arrhythmia surgeries. He is also Assistant Clinical Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at a New York City medical school.
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