Heart Surgery

If you have heart failure, your doctors may first try to treat your condition with lifestyle modifications, medication or nonsurgical procedures. If these treatments aren’t successful, you may need surgery. At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, we have a long-standing commitment to delivering exceptional surgical care. We played an early role in the introduction of open heart surgery in North Carolina.

Why Choose Us: Heart Surgery at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center has been performing heart surgery for nearly 50 years. Our surgeons use experience, expertise and teamwork to deliver the best possible surgical treatments for heart failure:

Expertise: From routine procedures to advanced treatments for complex conditions, we provide expert treatment. Patients who may not have been candidates for surgery at other hospitals come to us for care.
Seamless care: Our team of experts includes specialists in every aspect of surgical care, including valve replacement and anesthesiology. These specialists work together to make sure our patients receive personalized treatments, taking into account their heart condition and any other medical problems.
Comprehensive surgical program: From highly specialized cardiac anesthesiologists to a dedicated cardiac intensive care unit, we offer a range of services to help you have a successful surgery and recovery.
Innovative treatments: We participate in national trials testing the next generation of surgical treatments. This work has helped us deliver innovative treatments, such as minimally invasive procedures for mitral valve repair.

Expert Surgical Care in North Carolina

Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s surgeons treat many types of heart conditions. Our specialties include:

Device placement: These are implantable devices to help control your heartbeat or support your heart’s function and blood flow. Learn more about pacemaker (ICD) implant surgery.
Heart transplant: Some cases of advanced heart failure require a heart transplant. This procedure replaces your damaged heart with a healthy heart from a donor.
Bypass surgery: Wake Forest is one of few hospitals with expertise in using patients’ own arteries, instead of their veins. For patients needing multiple bypasses, we use multiple arteries. This technique provides long-lasting relief for patients with advanced forms of heart failure.
Pediatric procedures: We partner with pediatric cardiology experts from Brenner Children’s Hospital to treat some forms of congenital heart disease. Learn more about pediatric heart treatments.

Meet the Heart Surgery Team at Wake Forest

At Wake Forest, our team includes specialists in every aspect of heart surgery. We work together to provide the best available surgical treatments and sophisticated, continuous post-surgical care.

Cardiac surgeons: Our fellowship-trained cardiothoracic surgeons recommend and deliver the best surgical approach for each patient.
Cardiac anesthesiologists: Our anesthesiologists are solely dedicated to cardiac surgery and have expertise in meeting the special needs of cardiac patients.
Nurses and physician assistants: These are cardiac care specialists with advanced training in post-operative care for heart patients. Some of our team members have more than three decades of experience.
Specially trained intensivists: Physicians in our dedicated cardiac care intensive care unit provide 24/7 care as you recover from heart surgery.