Thoracic Surgery

Thoracic conditions affect your chest, lungs, esophagus, and diaphragm. The thoracic surgery team at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) Cardiovascular Institute expertly treats thoracic conditions, including lung cancer, disorders of the esophagus, and mesothelioma.

Thoracic surgery at AHN: Why choose us?

At the Cardiovascular Institute, you receive the expert medical care you need close to home. You benefit from:

• Minimally invasive procedures: Our thoracic surgeons are among the region’s leading specialists in performing advanced minimally invasive heart surgery, including video-assisted thorascopic surgery (VATS). Thanks to smaller incisions, you recover more quickly, experience less pain, and have a reduced risk of infection and scarring.
• Dedicated team of experts: Our cardiothoracic specialists work with physicians from AHN’s Esophageal Institute, as well as pulmonologists, oncologists, radiologists, and other experts to provide advanced, comprehensive care.
• Recovery program: Following treatment, specialists in our pulmonary rehabilitation program work with you to strengthen your lungs and return you to a more active lifestyle.
• Personalized care: We understand that your health needs and circumstances are unique. Our team develops a customized treatment plan specific to your situation. We work diligently to ensure that you receive compassionate care that focuses on you.

Thoracic treatments at AHN

Our cardiothoracic team is highly skilled at performing a wide array of procedures to treat:

• Esophageal disorders, including cancer and reflux
• Lung cancer
• Mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart)

Esophageal disorders, including cancer and reflux

• Esophagectomy: Your physician removes a diseased, or cancerous, section of your esophagus, and then uses part of your stomach or intestine to reconstruct the esophagus
• Laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication: During this treatment for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), your physician wraps part of your stomach around the bottom of the esophagus. The resulting pressure stops food and liquids from backing up into your esophagus
• Hiatal hernia repair: Your physician uses minimally invasive procedures to place bulging stomach tissue back into the abdominal cavity

Lung cancer

• Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS): Your doctor inserts a tiny camera called a thoracoscope into a small incision in your chest. Using the camera as a guide, your doctor inserts instruments through other small incisions in your chest to perform lung-sparing surgery. Lung procedures include:
  • Resection: During this lung-sparing procedure, your physician removes a section of diseased lung, along with a small amount of surrounding healthy tissue
  • Lobectomy: Your physician removes an entire lobe from a diseased lung
  • Pneumonectomy: Your physician removes the entire diseased lung

Mesothelioma (cancer of the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart)

• Pneumonectomy: Your physician surgically removes cancerous organs, such as the lung, lymph glands, and parts of your diaphragm.
• Pleurectomy: Your physician removes the cancerous tumor from your lungs, ribs, diaphragm, and chest wall while keeping those organs intact. This procedure eases symptoms.
• Video-assisted pleurodesis: Your physician inserts a catheter into your chest to drain fluid. Your surgeon may also inject medicine into your chest to prevent fluid buildup from reoccurring.

Contact us

Call (412) 359-4373 or request an appointment to learn more about AHN cardiovascular services.