The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care. Read More

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Cardiothoracic surgery treats conditions of the heart, lungs and chest. Based on the severity of symptoms, your physician may recommend that you see a cardiothoracic specialist. Adults experiencing cardiovascular disease, heart valve problems or lung cancer may benefit from cardiothoracic surgery.

Services Include

• Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). During this procedure, a blood vessel is taken from another part of the body and used to bypass a blocked artery. This creates a new pathway for blood and oxygen to reach the heart.
• Lung surgery. Used to repair or remove damaged lung tissue.
  • Common procedures include:
    • A piece of abnormal lung tissue is removed to examine for possible cancer growth.
    • Removal of a lobe of the lung that is damaged due to lung cancer, infection or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
    • Removal of the entire lung. Depending on the extent of the disease, a surgeon may recommend complete removal as the best option.
• Off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery. A traditional CABG uses a heart-lung machine that acts as an artificial circulation system. During an off-pump procedure, surgeons perform a bypass without a machine and while the heart is still pumping.
• Valve repair or replacement. Open-heart surgery or other minimally invasive methods are used to repair damaged heart valves.
  • Common procedures include:
    • Balloon valvuloplasty. A catheter with a balloon attached is inserted into a tight valve. The balloon expands to open the valve and allow for better blood flow.
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). This new offering is a minimally invasive alternative to open-heart surgery for treating aortic stenosis (the narrowing of the aortic valves).

McKenzie-Willamette Medical Center’s Cardiac Program Earns Distinguished Three-Star Rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.           

Led by Cardiothoracic Surgeon Nicholas Engstrom and his team, the MWMC Cardiac Surgery program has earned the distinguished three-star rating from The    Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) procedure.  The three-star rating, which denotes the highest category of quality, places our program among the elite for CABG in the U.S.; and one of only 3 programs in Oregon and the only one in Lane County.

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in health care, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs across the United States and Canada. The star rating is calculated using a combination of quality measures for specific procedures performed by an STS Adult Cardiac Surgery Database participant.