Cardiothoracic Surgery

Aims

At the end of the two-week rotation on the cardio-thoracic surgery service, the student should have acquired a basic understanding of the management of patients with surgically related heart and lung diseases.

Clinical Skills

• The student should be able to take relevant history
• The student should be able to interpret heart murmurs and respiratory sounds
• The student should understand how a bypass machine works and how a chest tube works

Radiographic Investigations in Cardiothoracic Surgery

The student should be familiar with the diagnostic procedures used to evaluate the heart lung and esophagus. Specifically:

• Angiograms, Pulmonary artery catheters, Bronchoscopy, CT scans of the chest, pulmonary function tests and ventilation perfusion scans. PET scans, esophagus--barium swallow, esophagoscopy, and esophageal motility studies.
• The Heart
  1. Indications for aortic and mitral valve replacement
  2. Types of prosthetic heart valves
  3. Risk factors for coronary artery disease
  4. Indications and methods of surgery in coronary artery disease
  5. The role of the heart-lung machine in cardiac surgery
  6. Indications and methods for temporary and permanent cardiac pacing
  7. Methods to augment cardiac output by manipulating preload, afterload and cardiac function.
• The Esophagus
  1. Pathology and treatment options of esophageal carcinoma
  2. Types of benign esophageal pathology and indications for thoracic intervention in hiatal hernia.
• The Lung
  1. Different types of lung cancer
  2. Evaluation of a patient with lung cancer for operability and respectability
  3. Workup of a patient with a lung nodule