Columbia University Department of Surgery
Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery
630 West 168 Street
New York City, New York
United States of America
Website http://www.columbiaheart.org
E-mail info@columbiasurgery.org
Telephone ++1 (for USA) - 800 - 543 27 82
Telefax ++1 (for USA) - 212 - 305 94 95
In several specialties, the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery stands alone in the region and among the best in the world. The Heart Transplant Program, one
of the first in the nation, has completed its 25th year and has consistently been among the most active programs in the United States. The program will become even better with the renewed vigor that accompanies new surgical
leadership; we are very excited to have Niloo M. Edwards, MD, join the faculty as Director of Heart Transplantation. Mehmet C. Oz, MD, leads an internationally recognized program in ventricular assist devices, which has become an
important center for training, testing and implementation of new devices. Our open-heart surgery programs performed 1,650 open-heart procedures in 1996 and, for the most recent reporting period, registered the lowest mortality
rate for coronary bypass procedures in Manhattan and one of the lowest in the state. CPMC has always been the regional leader in congenital heart surgery, and under Jan M. Quaegebeur , MD, the volume of cases has tripled over the
past several years. The New York State database for complex congenital procedures shows an astounding 1.5 percent mortality rate at CPMC compared to 15 percent statewide. Congenital heart surgery is an increasingly important
national and international draw for the division and for CPMC. The division has recently launched a unique program, the Columbia Integrative Medicine Program, led by Dr. Oz. The center offers a selection of therapies that
complement traditional medicine in an effort to help patients recover more quickly with less stress, anxiety and pain. These therapies include hypnosis, yoga, massage, reflexology, acupressure, non-contact therapeutic touch and
guided imagery. In just two years, the Columbia Integrative Medicine Program has already become an extremely popular program, and during 1997 it attracted a considerable amount of outside funding, which will help establish the
center as a freestanding hospital-based program. We have also been leaders in the development of transmyocardial revascularization (TMR), a laser procedure for patients who are not candidates for bypass surgery or angioplasty.
The division participated in the earliest clinical trials of this technique using an open-chest approach, and we hold the original method patents for a percutaneous approach that has recently entered clinical trials in the United
States and Europe. The TMR laboratory at CPMC is internationally recognized as a leader in the investigation of mechanisms and of new approaches to improve the outcomes of the technique. Another development - one that's just
appearing on the horizon - is the exciting development in our research laboratory of a possible alternative to heparin, called Factor IXa inhibitor (IxaI). This agent preserves extravascular hemostasis while inhibiting
intravascular thrombosis effectively enough to prevent clot formation in the circuitry of heart-lung machines or dialysis circuits. This offers the potential for control of bleeding complications without increasing the risk of
thrombotic complications. This could be an extremely important development in complex surgical situations such as LVAD insertion, in which bleeding from cut surfaces is a major problem. In the purely clinical realm, we have
contractual agreements to establish and manage cardiac surgery programs at St. Michael's Medical Center in Newark, New Jersey; Arnot Ogden Hospital in Elmira, New York; Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, New York and
Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York. These programs have proven profitable and have clearly demonstrated our ability to transfer the methodology of outstanding patient care and the key elements in a clinically and
financially successful program from one center to another without changing their identity. We are actively exploring opportunities for cooperation that build on the combined strengths of both institutions, such as training
programs, joint bidding on health care contracts and shared infrastructure. The opportunities in cardiothoracic surgery are especially appealing, with the combined services performing more than 3,300 open-heart procedures a year in
all conceivable subspecialty areas. The combined entity is one of the largest cardiothoracic enterprises in the nation. We have already achieved a fully integrated program in congenital heart surgery at both sites under Dr.
Quaegebeur and Ralph S. Mosca, MD, both based at CPMC. New developments involving infrastructure include combination of the existing surgical ICUs into a single 28-bed unit under unified leadership, and installation of a new
computerized bedside data acquisition system that should improve patient management. Development of a new Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York at Columbia Presbyterian ICU dedicated to cardiac surgery is also under way.
The division remains an active part of the Heart Institute, which is an interdisciplinary entity combining all medical, surgical and diagnostic cardiac services. The institute has recently been further empowered by the addition of
budgetary influence over all hospital-based cardiac services, under my leadership and that of Allan Schwartz, MD, as Clinical Directors of the Heart Institute at Columbia Presbyterian.
This Hospital was registered by Ms Schwarz-McGregor , the Director of the Department for External Affairs of Columbia-Presbyterian’s Department of Surgery and the Heart Institute.
Last update : 2nd of April 2002
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