Cardiac Anesthesia

The Division of Cardiac Anesthesia provides anesthesia care to patients undergoing cardiac surgery and supports the non-cardiac anesthesia staff in the care of patients with complex heart disease.

Our group of cardiac anesthesiologists consists of highly motivated physicians with either fellowship training and/or years of experience in cardiac anesthesia. These individuals demonstrate a high level of competence and skill. With a separate cardiac anesthesia call group our department enables 24-hour access to a cardiac anesthesiologist.

Residents rotating through cardiac anesthesia are exposed to coronary artery bypass surgery, valvular surgery, tumor surgery within the heart, Maze procedure for the treatment of atrial fibrillation, creation of pericardial window and trans-catheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). The yearly volume for our cardiac ORs is about 500 cases per year. Furthermore, residents benefit from an active electrophysiology service that runs two additional rooms daily.

Common procedures performed by the cardiac anesthesia team are the placement of vascular access (arterial, central venous, pulmonary artery catheters) and transesophageal echocardiography. Frequently our patients are monitored for ST changes on the ECG, pulmonary artery pressure, central venous pressure, cardiac output, cerebral oxygenation and anesthetic depth.

In conjunction with cardiac surgery, cardiology, and the ICU team, the Division of Cardiac Anesthesia provides high quality care to our patients.

-Christian Mueller, MD, director of cardiac anesthesia