Cardiothoracic Surgery

Our heart centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi bring together surgeons, cardiologists, anaesthetists and specialist nurses for surgery of the heart and chest. We perform coronary bypass and heart valve operations, and our thoracic surgeons treat lung and chest conditions referred from across our hospitals.

What is cardiothoracic surgery?

Cardiothoracic surgery treats organs inside the chest, mainly the heart, the lungs, and the esophagus. It also covers the chest wall, and the large blood vessels close to the heart. Surgeons operate on conditions such as blocked heart arteries, diseased heart valves, and lung cancer, usually after a cardiologist or chest doctor has made the diagnosis. Unlike a cardiologist, who treats heart disease with medicines and non-surgical procedures, a cardiothoracic surgeon carries out the operation and shares your follow-up care.

Who is referred to a cardiothoracic surgeon?

You don't usually come to a cardiothoracic surgeon on your own. A cardiologist, chest doctor or family doctor refers you when surgery may be the right treatment. You may be referred if you have:

• Narrowed heart arteries that need bypass surgery
• A heart valve that is tight or leaking
• An aortic aneurysm, a bulge in the body's main artery
• Lung cancer or a lung lump that surgery can remove
• A collapsed lung, or fluid around the lung that keeps returning
• A growth in the centre of the chest

Many chest conditions cause few symptoms and are found during tests for something else; an aortic aneurysm, for example, often stays silent until a scan picks it up. If a test shows a problem that surgery can treat, the specialist looking after you will explain whether a referral to a surgeon is the right next step.

What to expect

Your first visit is a consultation with the surgeon, who reviews your diagnosis and the tests already done, examines you and explains whether an operation would help. You may need further checks first, such as an echocardiogram, a CT scan of the chest or breathing tests. A coronary angiogram is often done to map the heart's arteries. The surgeon uses these results to plan the operation as safely as possible.

Some operations are done through a single cut in the chest, while others use keyhole methods that need only small openings and allow for a quicker recovery. Your case is usually discussed by a team of surgeons, cardiologists, and anaesthetists before anything is agreed upon. The surgeon will then talk you through the options, risks and recovery, and recommend the most appropriate treatment plan for you.

Cardiothoracic surgery at Mediclinic

Our cardiothoracic team is based at Mediclinic Airport Road Hospital in Abu Dhabi, and Mediclinic City Hospital, Dubai where cardiac and thoracic surgery run alongside our heart centre. We perform coronary bypass and heart valve surgery, and we use minimally invasive and keyhole techniques where they suit the patient, which can mean smaller cuts and faster recovery.

Where it fits, we can replace a narrowed aortic valve through a blood vessel instead of open surgery, and our surgeons also repair the aorta where it leaves the heart. Our thoracic surgeons treat lung and chest conditions, and they take referrals from our other hospitals and from outside Mediclinic when a chest operation is needed.