The cardiothoracic anesthesia section performs more than 1000 adult anesthetics for complex cardiac, thoracic and vascular cases each year.  In addition over 300 congenital heart anesthetics are also performed.  The Medical University of South Carolina is the major referral center in the state for children and adults with complex cardiothoracic and vascular disorders.  In the summer of 2007, the Ashley River Tower Hospital started seeing its first patients.  The Ashley River Tower is a state-of-the-art center for adult cardiac, thoracic, vascular and GI surgical patients.

The cardiothoracic anesthesia faculty members are extremely active with national recognition through the publication of multiple textbooks dealing with the field.  These texts include Cardiac Anesthesia Principles and Clinical Practice co-edited by J. G. Reves, MD; A Practical Approach to Transesophageal Echocardiography co-edited by Scott T. Reeves, MD; Anesthesia and Co-existing Disease co-edited by Stephen F. Dierdorf, MD (former faculty); and Fundamental Application of Transesophageal Echocardiography co-edited by Scott T. Reeves, MD.  The cardiothoracic faculty are internationally renowned for their speaking abilities, giving frequent presentations at multiple meetings, including the American Society of Anesthesiologists and the Society of Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. 

The cardiothoracic surgical service at the Medical University Hospital has a very active valve repair practice.  As such, the anesthesia faculty are very fluent with the use of transesophageal echocardiography to assist in surgical planning.  Eight of the faculty have completed or are eligible for board certification by the National Board of Echocardiography in Perioperative Transesophageal Echocardiography.  The service also consists of a large thoracic aneurism repair practice, as well as off pump cardiopulmonary bypass procedures. 

The team at the MUSC Children’s Heart Center, which includes 6 pediatric cardiac anesthesiologists, excels in the full range of pediatric diagnostic, interventional catheterization, and surgical procedures for acquired and congenital cardiac diseases. More than 400 major operations are performed annually. The program treats patients from birth, through adolescence and, in the case of congenital heart disease, into adulthood. Our comprehensive surgery program is the only one in South Carolina, and, with an overall 30-day survival rate of 99%, ranks among the best in the world. The number of surgical procedures we perform has steadily increased every year since 1996 through ever growing regional, national and international referrals, with results that rank among the very best programs; for example, these include a 99 percent 30-day survival rate for all surgical procedures from 2006-2010, and a 94 percent discharge survival rate for the Norwood procedure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome from 2006-2010.

The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina has a one year cardiothoracic fellowship.  The fellowship follows the recently approved RRC ACGME guidelines for fellowship training in cardiothoracic anesthesiology.  The faculty are extremely excited about this new opportunity for post graduate medical education.