Washington, D.C. is home to 37 practicing cardiothoracic surgeons who have offices in 1 county and 9 zip codes, including zip codes 20010, 20037, 20007, 20017, 20016, 20307, 20060, 20009, and 20002.

According to 2005 Census estimates, Washington, D.C. has a population of 550,521, which gives it a specialist to resident ratio of 1 cardiothoracic surgeon for every 14,878 residents.

Description

Cardiothoracic Surgery refers to operations that treat diseases affecting the heart (cardio) and lungs (thoracic).

Diseases / Illnesses Treated

Physicians in this specialty treat patients suffering from numerous diseases and illnesses, but some of the most common are mesothelioma, lung cancer, congenital heart disease, lung disease, pectus excavatum, thymoma, aortic aneurysm, cardiovascular disease, esophageal carcinoma, pulmonary metastases, chest wall tumors, esophageal diseases, tracheal tumors, malignant pleural effusions, and thoracic neoplasms.

Procedures Performed

Once properly diagnosed, practitioners can perform numerous procedures on patients including lobectomy, mediastinoscopy, mitral valve replacement, lung transplantation, ventricular assist device, lung volume reduction, aortic dissection, coronary artery bypass graft (cabg), coronary artery bypass surgery, mitral valve repair, heart transplantation, miniminally invasive surgery (mis), ventricular restoration (dor procedure), video-assisted thoracoscopy (vats), bullectomy, arrhythmia surgery, and thoracic aorta repairs.

Tests Performed

To diagnose patients with possible illnesses and diseases, specialists will often perform one of many tests including  biopsy, x-ray, magnetic resonance imaging (mri), electrocardiogram (ecg or ekg), upper gi (barium swallow), computed axial tomography (ct or cat scan), and physicial examination.