Ask for a Referral

You’ll need a referral from your cardiologist to make an appointment with a cardiac, vascular and thoracic surgeon. If you have questions, call 703.558.6491.

Cardiac, Vascular & Thoracic Surgery

When you or someone you love needs heart or vascular surgery, you want a surgeon with expertise you can trust. VHC Health brings leading-edge, accessible cardiovascular care to the Washington, DC metro area.

The surgeons at VHC Health specialize in a broad spectrum of procedures and treatments. When you choose the multidisciplinary team of experts at VHC Health, you can rest assured your heart is in good hands.

Conditions We Treat

Depending on your symptoms, tests and other factors, you and your doctor may decide surgery is the best option to treat your condition. We offer surgical care for conditions that affect:

Heart
Lungs
Veins and arteries

In addition to excellent surgical care from trained, compassionate providers, you’ll receive education, comfort and support so you reach the best outcome possible.

Minimally Invasive Techniques

Whenever possible, your surgeon will use the least invasive procedure. This means your surgeon will use advanced technology and tiny tools to perform the procedure. You benefit from:

Smaller incisions than traditional (open) surgery
Reduced pain and scarring
Faster recovery and shorter hospital stay
Less risk of complications, including infection

Procedures We Offer

From coronary bypass surgery to heart valve repair and replacement, repair of blood vessel defects and correction of congenital heart defects, VHC Health’s team of highly skilled surgeons provide an exceptional patient experience and outstanding surgical outcomes.

Cardiac Surgeries

Find top-quality care for adult heart surgeries, including:

Congenital heart defect correction, such as atrial septal defect (ASD) repair and ventricular septal defect (VSD) closure – Repairs heart conditions that are present at birth (congenital)
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery – opens a blocked or narrowed artery to improve blood flow to the heart
Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) surgery – treats heart failure by replacing the main pumping chamber of the heart with a mechanical pump
Maze procedure – creates scar tissue in the heart in order to stop atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia (irregular heart rhythm)
Mitral valve repair or replacement surgery – repairs or replaces the valve leaks for prolapses to restore healthy blood flow to your heart
Pacemaker placement – inserts a small device that helps restore normal rhythm to the heart to treat an arrhythmia
Pericardiectomy or pericardial repair – removes all or part of the pericardium, the membrane around the heart, to help the heart pump more easily
Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) – uses a minimally invasive procedure to replace a damaged aortic valve
Tricuspid valve repair surgery – repairs a valve leak or damage to restore blood flow through the upper right heart chamber to the lower right heart chamber
Valvuloplasty, or balloon valvotomy – repairs a narrowed heart valve

Vascular Surgeries

Vascular procedures treat conditions that affect the arteries, veins and capillaries that make up the body’s blood vessels. VHC Health’s vascular surgeons offer:

Aortic aneurysm repair – fixes or replaces a bulge in the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body, with a synthetic tube
Aortic dissection repair – treats a tear in the aorta, usually by placing a graft (tube) of tissue in the blood vessel
Carotid endarterectomy – takes out plaque that’s built up in the carotid artery in the neck to improve blood flow to the brain
Peripheral vascular surgeries, including femoral-popliteal (fem-pop) bypass – treats peripheral vascular diseases, conditions that affect blood flow in the vessels outside the brain and heart

Endostent Aneurysm Repair

If you or a loved one have an abdominal aortic aneurysm, VHC Health cardiothoracic surgeons will treat the condition through endovascular stent grafting whenever possible. This procedure uses minimally invasive techniques and long, thin tubes called catheters to place an endostent device in the aorta, the largest blood vessel in the body.

Dialysis Access

If you need dialysis treatments to treat kidney disease, your doctor may recommend surgery to place a dialysis access. A dialysis access, or vascular access, allows your blood to travel through tubes to the dialysis machine for filtering and back to your body.

Thoracic Surgeries

A thoracic surgeon is an expert who has special training in operating on organs inside the chest, including the heart and lungs. Thoracic surgeries include:

Lung biopsy - takes a sample of the lung for testing
Lung lobectomy - removal of one of the lung’s lobes
Pneumonectomy - removal of a lung or part of a lung
Surgery to diagnose or treat lung cancer

Video-Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS)

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) is a type of surgery for diagnosing and treating a variety of conditions involving the chest area. This option uses minimally invasive techniques, so you have less scarring, risk of infection, blood loss and stress. Our team has experience performing VATS to diagnose and treat lung cancer and perform lung biopsy, lobectomy and pneumonectomy. Learn more about VATS, and ask your doctor if it’s right for you.

Thoracotomy

A thoracotomy is a surgical procedure in which a cut is made between the ribs to see and reach the lungs or other organs in the chest. A thoracotomy is performed for diagnosis or treatment of a disease and allows doctors to visualize, biopsy or remove tissue as needed. Your care team may decide that this is the best choice for your situation. If this is the case, you can depend on your dedicated care team for skilled care and support.

Your Care Team

You’ll be the focus of a multidisciplinary team that streamlines your experience. In addition to a trained cardiothoracic surgeon, your care team may include:

Cardiovascular clinician – doctor who provides and coordinates care you receive following best practices for patients with heart, vascular and thoracic conditions
Cardiovascular nurse clinicians – nurses who give onsite care under the direction of your surgeon and other doctors
Clinic administrator – professional who works with the chief of cardiac, vascular and thoracic surgery department to schedule your surgery, office consultations and outpatient and preoperative tests
Physician assistant (PA) – manages and coordinates your care, offers preoperative education, orders tests and interprets the results, and manages your postoperative care

Because our surgeons have offices right next to the cardiac unit, you’ll benefit from close, continual oversight before, during and after your procedure.