How do I choose a heart surgeon?
The most important factors in choosing a heart surgeon are: (1) volume — surgeons who perform your specific procedure frequently have better outcomes, (2) outcomes data — STS National Database participation and published complication rates, (3) specialty expertise — a surgeon who specializes in your specific operation, (4) hospital quality — STS star ratings and annual cardiac surgery volume, and (5) the surgeon's willingness to discuss their personal outcomes data transparently.
The complete answer.
Research consistently shows a volume-outcome relationship in cardiac surgery. For CABG, surgeons performing fewer than 50 cases per year have measurably higher mortality. For mitral valve repair, the repair rate (percentage of cases successfully repaired vs replaced) is the most critical metric — and it varies from <50% to >99% between surgeons. Ask your surgeon directly: "How many of these procedures do you perform per year?" and "What is your personal complication rate?" A surgeon confident in their outcomes will answer transparently.
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