Aortic Surgeon Research Paper
The human heart beats about 100,000 times per day, proving that a person’s heart is a big part of not only their day, but of their life as well. A person’s heart is a huge part of who their are. If a heart is not performing as it should, it is up to a cardiothoracic surgeon, (cardiac surgeon), to get that heart up and running again. Cardiothoracic surgeons save lives every day, from doing simple, everyday procedures to performing life-saving surgeries, every region needs to have a heart surgeon so no matter where a person is, so they can get to a heart surgeon as quickly as possible in a life or death situation.
What is a Cardiothoracic surgeon?
A cardiothoracic surgeon is a doctor who specializes in surgical procedures concerning the heart, …show more content…
lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. A cardiothoracic surgeon as several different titles: cardiothoracic surgeon, cardiac surgeon, heart surgeon, and cardiovascular surgeon.
How many years does it take in order to specialize in this field?
After graduating from high school, one has to complete about 15 years to become a full cardiothoracic surgeon. First, one has to go complete a pre-medical degree which takes about four years. Then one would need to complete about four years at medical school followed by a five year general surgery residency. After that, they would need to do a two year cardiothoracic surgery residency.
Salary of a Cardiothoracic Surgeon
The salary of a heart surgeon really depends on location, years of experience, company size, and level of education. The salary can eventually get to about $500,000 a year. As of March 24, 2016, according to www1.salary.com, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Dallas, TX, the range is about $346,011 to $541,088 not including bonus and other factors that could add to a person base pay.
Diseases that Cardiothoracic Surgeons Treat
There are a number of different diseases that heart surgeons treat. Some of them are: coronary artery disease, aortic valve diseases, mitral valve disease, atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, and tetralogy of fallot.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is where plaque grows within the walls of the coronary arteries until the blood flow to the heart’s muscle is limited.
There are two types of aortic valve diseases: regurgitation and stenosis. Aortic regurgitation is a condition in which blood flows backward from a weak or widened aortic valve into the heart’s left ventricle. Aortic Stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the aortic valve. This happens with the valve leaflets become coated with deposits. Since this is makes the aortic valve smaller, the left ventricle has to work harder in order to get the same amount of blood through the small opening, over time, this extra work can weaken the heart. There are three mitral valve diseases: mitral valve prolapse, mitral regurgitation, and mitral stenosis. Mitral valve prolapse disease is where one or both of the valve flaps (cusps or leaflets) are enlarged and the flaps’ supporting muscles are too long; instead of closing evenly, the one or both of the flaps collapse or bulge into the left atrium. Mitral regurgitation is caused by earlier conditions that have weakened the heart, such as if a person has had a heart attack or had rheumatic fever as a child. Mitral stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the mitral valve, the narrowed valve causes blood to back-up into the heart’s upper-left chamber instead of flowing into the lower-left chamber. Atrial septal defect, also known as ASD, is a “hole” in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart. Ventricular septal defect (VSD), is the opposite of ASD, it is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart. Tetralogy of fallot is a combination of four different problems: a hold between the lower chambers of the heart, the muscle surrounding the lower right chamber becomes overly thickened, an obstruction from the heart to the lungs, and when the aorta is over the hole in the lower chambers. These are a few of the heart conditions that a cardiothoracic surgeon
would treat.
Heart transplant.
If a person were to have heart failure, he or she would need a heart transplant. The two most common heart conditions in which a heart transplant is required are idiopathic cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle without a known cause), and coronary artery disease. Over time, the heart gets weaker and is less able to pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. The heart has to work harder to pump more blood into the body, due to this, the heart can become enlarged (hypertrophied). The heart works so hard that eventually, the heart will start to wear out. Imagine that a person is running their very hardest, it feels ok for a little while, but the longer the run, the more tired that they will become, the heart is the same way. When the heart wears out, it is overcome by disease and is unable to pump even a small amount of blood. Medicines, mechanical devices, and other therapies can help and sometimes improve a patient’s condition. When these treatments fail though, a heart transplant becomes the only option for survival.
Who is in the room when a heart surgery is taking place?
During a heart surgery, a surgical team is in the room with the surgeon operates on the patient. There is a cardiovascular surgeon, assisting surgeons, surgical technicians, cardiovascular anesthesiologist, perfusion technologists, and cardiovascular nurses. The cardiovascular surgeon is the head of the surgery and performs the key parts of the surgery. The assisting surgeons take directions from the cardiovascular surgeon. The cardiovascular anesthesiologist gives the medicines that make the patient “sleep” during the procedure and makes sure he or she stay “asleep.” The perfusion technologists run the heart-lung machine which takes over the heart and the lung’s job. A surgical technician hands the appropriate tools and supplies to the surgeon as he or she requests them. And finally, the cardiovascular nurses are the ones who assist the surgeon in the surgery. All of these people and their jobs are key to a successful heart surgery.
What exactly does a cardiothoracic surgeon do?
A heart surgeon has several responsibilities and duties. They will perform physical exams and will handle daily patient rounds. A heart surgeon will also perform invasive and long procedure, such as chest tube insertions, placement of central venous, and many more surgeries. They also will retrieve vascular tissue veins, arteries, ext. to use as a bypass conduit. The cardiothoracic surgeon will also have to perform heart transplants. First they will have to get the heart from the donor. The heart donor normally is a person who is suffering from “brain death” normally caused by a major head trauma. After the surgeon gets the heart, they will put it on ice in order to keep them alive until they can be implanted, the heart, this is optimally less than six hours. Due to this time limit, the heart is normally transported my plane or helicopter to the recipient’s hospital. The next thing the surgeon will do is remove the recipient’s bad heart. The final thing that the surgeon will do to complete this procedure is the implantation of the donor heart.
Cardiothoracic Surgeon vs. Cardiologist
Many people believe that a heart surgeon and a cardiologist are the same or at least a lot alike. Dr. Olsom, a cardiologist from Dallas Tx, says, “A heart surgeon is completely different from a cardiologist. A cardiologist has more of a math background, you get clear cut answers.” Both a heart surgeon and cardiologist both have heartbreaking experiences though. “It is still very hard to tell a patient that the person that they love is dying or has already died.” Both a surgeon and a cardiologist have to have these “gut ripping” experiences. A cardiologist spend a lot of time in the office and seeing appointments and have reasonable work hours that start at a specific time and end at a specific time. On the contrary, a heart surgeon’s schedule depends on everything around them. In the surgeons residency years, they may be on call every third night and they rarely get a weekend off, but after working so hard, it can be very rewarding in the future. Although a cardiothoracic surgeon and a cardiologist both have medical fields concerning the heart, they are very different.
Conclusion
Being a cardiothoracic surgeon requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and discipline. A heart surgeon is a very important job, they are the ones who can save somebody's life in certain emergency cases where the heart is covered. They save lives everyday and enjoy every second of it. Dr. Olsem, who also does certain simple procedures, says that when you are doing a procedure on a patient, he or she has to direct all our attention into one person. They have to put all other thoughts aside and focus on one thing. It is all very intense. He also said, “When it is all said and done, at the end of the procedure, you get to deliver the good news about the surgery to the patient's family, and that is instant gratification.” Cardiothoracic surgeons work hard everyday to be able to deliver that kind of news. Everyday is a great day to save lives.
What is a Cardiothoracic surgeon?
A cardiothoracic surgeon is a doctor who specializes in surgical procedures concerning the heart, …show more content…
lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. A cardiothoracic surgeon as several different titles: cardiothoracic surgeon, cardiac surgeon, heart surgeon, and cardiovascular surgeon.
How many years does it take in order to specialize in this field?
After graduating from high school, one has to complete about 15 years to become a full cardiothoracic surgeon. First, one has to go complete a pre-medical degree which takes about four years. Then one would need to complete about four years at medical school followed by a five year general surgery residency. After that, they would need to do a two year cardiothoracic surgery residency.
Salary of a Cardiothoracic Surgeon
The salary of a heart surgeon really depends on location, years of experience, company size, and level of education. The salary can eventually get to about $500,000 a year. As of March 24, 2016, according to www1.salary.com, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Dallas, TX, the range is about $346,011 to $541,088 not including bonus and other factors that could add to a person base pay.
Diseases that Cardiothoracic Surgeons Treat
There are a number of different diseases that heart surgeons treat. Some of them are: coronary artery disease, aortic valve diseases, mitral valve disease, atrial septal defects, ventricular septal defects, and tetralogy of fallot.
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is where plaque grows within the walls of the coronary arteries until the blood flow to the heart’s muscle is limited.
There are two types of aortic valve diseases: regurgitation and stenosis. Aortic regurgitation is a condition in which blood flows backward from a weak or widened aortic valve into the heart’s left ventricle. Aortic Stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the aortic valve. This happens with the valve leaflets become coated with deposits. Since this is makes the aortic valve smaller, the left ventricle has to work harder in order to get the same amount of blood through the small opening, over time, this extra work can weaken the heart. There are three mitral valve diseases: mitral valve prolapse, mitral regurgitation, and mitral stenosis. Mitral valve prolapse disease is where one or both of the valve flaps (cusps or leaflets) are enlarged and the flaps’ supporting muscles are too long; instead of closing evenly, the one or both of the flaps collapse or bulge into the left atrium. Mitral regurgitation is caused by earlier conditions that have weakened the heart, such as if a person has had a heart attack or had rheumatic fever as a child. Mitral stenosis is a narrowing or blockage of the mitral valve, the narrowed valve causes blood to back-up into the heart’s upper-left chamber instead of flowing into the lower-left chamber. Atrial septal defect, also known as ASD, is a “hole” in the wall that separates the top two chambers of the heart. Ventricular septal defect (VSD), is the opposite of ASD, it is a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of the heart. Tetralogy of fallot is a combination of four different problems: a hold between the lower chambers of the heart, the muscle surrounding the lower right chamber becomes overly thickened, an obstruction from the heart to the lungs, and when the aorta is over the hole in the lower chambers. These are a few of the heart conditions that a cardiothoracic surgeon
would treat.
Heart transplant.
If a person were to have heart failure, he or she would need a heart transplant. The two most common heart conditions in which a heart transplant is required are idiopathic cardiomyopathy (disease of the heart muscle without a known cause), and coronary artery disease. Over time, the heart gets weaker and is less able to pump oxygen-rich blood to the rest of the body. The heart has to work harder to pump more blood into the body, due to this, the heart can become enlarged (hypertrophied). The heart works so hard that eventually, the heart will start to wear out. Imagine that a person is running their very hardest, it feels ok for a little while, but the longer the run, the more tired that they will become, the heart is the same way. When the heart wears out, it is overcome by disease and is unable to pump even a small amount of blood. Medicines, mechanical devices, and other therapies can help and sometimes improve a patient’s condition. When these treatments fail though, a heart transplant becomes the only option for survival.
Who is in the room when a heart surgery is taking place?
During a heart surgery, a surgical team is in the room with the surgeon operates on the patient. There is a cardiovascular surgeon, assisting surgeons, surgical technicians, cardiovascular anesthesiologist, perfusion technologists, and cardiovascular nurses. The cardiovascular surgeon is the head of the surgery and performs the key parts of the surgery. The assisting surgeons take directions from the cardiovascular surgeon. The cardiovascular anesthesiologist gives the medicines that make the patient “sleep” during the procedure and makes sure he or she stay “asleep.” The perfusion technologists run the heart-lung machine which takes over the heart and the lung’s job. A surgical technician hands the appropriate tools and supplies to the surgeon as he or she requests them. And finally, the cardiovascular nurses are the ones who assist the surgeon in the surgery. All of these people and their jobs are key to a successful heart surgery.
What exactly does a cardiothoracic surgeon do?
A heart surgeon has several responsibilities and duties. They will perform physical exams and will handle daily patient rounds. A heart surgeon will also perform invasive and long procedure, such as chest tube insertions, placement of central venous, and many more surgeries. They also will retrieve vascular tissue veins, arteries, ext. to use as a bypass conduit. The cardiothoracic surgeon will also have to perform heart transplants. First they will have to get the heart from the donor. The heart donor normally is a person who is suffering from “brain death” normally caused by a major head trauma. After the surgeon gets the heart, they will put it on ice in order to keep them alive until they can be implanted, the heart, this is optimally less than six hours. Due to this time limit, the heart is normally transported my plane or helicopter to the recipient’s hospital. The next thing the surgeon will do is remove the recipient’s bad heart. The final thing that the surgeon will do to complete this procedure is the implantation of the donor heart.
Cardiothoracic Surgeon vs. Cardiologist
Many people believe that a heart surgeon and a cardiologist are the same or at least a lot alike. Dr. Olsom, a cardiologist from Dallas Tx, says, “A heart surgeon is completely different from a cardiologist. A cardiologist has more of a math background, you get clear cut answers.” Both a heart surgeon and cardiologist both have heartbreaking experiences though. “It is still very hard to tell a patient that the person that they love is dying or has already died.” Both a surgeon and a cardiologist have to have these “gut ripping” experiences. A cardiologist spend a lot of time in the office and seeing appointments and have reasonable work hours that start at a specific time and end at a specific time. On the contrary, a heart surgeon’s schedule depends on everything around them. In the surgeons residency years, they may be on call every third night and they rarely get a weekend off, but after working so hard, it can be very rewarding in the future. Although a cardiothoracic surgeon and a cardiologist both have medical fields concerning the heart, they are very different.
Conclusion
Being a cardiothoracic surgeon requires a lot of hard work, dedication, and discipline. A heart surgeon is a very important job, they are the ones who can save somebody's life in certain emergency cases where the heart is covered. They save lives everyday and enjoy every second of it. Dr. Olsem, who also does certain simple procedures, says that when you are doing a procedure on a patient, he or she has to direct all our attention into one person. They have to put all other thoughts aside and focus on one thing. It is all very intense. He also said, “When it is all said and done, at the end of the procedure, you get to deliver the good news about the surgery to the patient's family, and that is instant gratification.” Cardiothoracic surgeons work hard everyday to be able to deliver that kind of news. Everyday is a great day to save lives.