Vascular surgeon vs. Thoracic surgeon

For an ascending aortic aneurysm you need a cardiothoracic surgeon, the repair is through open heart surgery and that is what they do. Vascular surgeons deal with abdominal aneurysms. Had mine 6 years ago to repair a 5.2cm ascending aortic aneurysm. Find someone who has done thousands of surgeries in a major hospital.

Absolutely see a cardiothoracic surgeon. It can be a common misperception that vascular surgeons are the appropriate professional. However, their expertise can be helpful in evaluating your vessels. For example: Is there vasculitis which could make your aneurysm more “dangerous” or are the vessels fine, etc..

@houston13
The guy that worked on me for 14.5 hours was a cardiovascular surgeon and thoracic surgeon. Not all thoracic surgeons are cardiovascular surgeons.

I first saw a vascular surgeon, they couldn't get me out of the office fast enough. (Since they would not be the one operating) gave me bad advice, (said i could lift 100 pounds) tried to set me up with Jr level cardiologist, I immediatly switched to a thoracic surgeon with the sanger heart institute, they immediatky set up new gated ct, echo and ultrasound, and gave me a starting appointment with a great cardiologist. Once I get (hopfully never) to a 5 - 5.2 measurement (I'm at 4.4 x 4.2 now) then I'll see thier leading thoracic surgeon . So, fly away from a vascular, find a great cardio-thoracic that cares.

@ronludington
The issue was you needed a cardio-vascular surgeon but you went to a vascular surgeon. Cardiovascular surgeons do open heart surgery, heart transplants etc. A general thoracic surgeon may not know much about cardio and likely work on lungs and things in the chest other than the heart. My cardiovascular surgeon does heart transplants, heart-lung transplants as well has Bentall Procedures, bypass etc. The key is, cardio! The next thing is how many aortic procedures does the facility and said Doctor perform.