I know u guys arent surgeons but...

[Maybach]

I was just wondering, the fate of ct surgeons is known, they won't last a whole lot longer, not many are going to need them, but lung surgery is nowhere near its demise, so what type of surgeon will be responsible for them? Any input? Thanks

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[P Diddy]

I was just wondering, the fate of ct surgeons is known, they won't last a whole lot longer, not many are going to need them, but lung surgery is nowhere near its demise, so what type of surgeon will be responsible for them? Any input? Thanks

CT surgeons will still have business for at least the rest of our lives. Percutaneous valve replacements and stem cell technologies are just not up to snuff yet. It's true that cardiologists are encroaching upon the scope of their practice.

For the lung surgeries, thoracic surgeons will take care of them.

p diddy

 

[Mr. McDuck]

Last time I checked, you can't transplant a heart percutaneously--at least, not yet. There are still operations that only CT surgeons can do, even if they aren't done on a daily basis. There are also tons of thoracic cases that can only be done by a surgeon. CT stands for cardiothoracic.

 

[SunnyS81]

Most of you will find this odd....I know I did, but most people's workforce data actually predicts that CT surgeons' demand will decrease for about the next 10 years, but will increase substantially after that. Why? I have no clue (and no I don't remember all the citations, but I've read a good ten articles saying the same thing). There will always be a place for CT surgeons, probably doing more interesting things than CABG's. Most people I've talked to indicated that part of the problem with the current oversupply of CT surgeons was that back in the day (70's or 80s?) they would train tons of fellows....far in excess of what would be desirable. The real question I think is when will vascular surgery/interventional/EP cardiology/IR/CT surgery just combine into one field with surgical or interventional specializations......

 

[Mr. McDuck]

I don't see how cardiology and vascular/CT can combine. They require different specialty training prior to fellowship. As far as the demand increasing in 10 years, it probably will be secondary to less surgeons going into CT as the field becomes less popular. Eventually, demand will be greater than supply, and the market will be sweet again.

 

[cfdavid]

Something that is just starting to take off is the "hybrid" cath lab/OR, where the patient will benefit from the services of both an interventional cardiologist and that of a CT surgeon. The larger vessels can be grafted, and the smaller ones may be stented. One of the big benefits is the post-procedural fluoroscopy (i.e. validation) relative to a CABG, which apparently has not been the standard of care. We'll see if this takes off, but Vanderbilt has one such "room" and there are a few others.

This will invariably benefit the patient, and speaks to the fact that the two professions are begining to acknowledge the unique capabilities and differences of what they can provide (and what they can't). We'll see how things go. I think they are still proving out the financials, as well as needing to prove an improvement in outcomes. I imagine this will take some time.

 

[Qtip96]

Something that is just starting to take off is the "hybrid" cath lab/OR, where the patient will benefit from the services of both an interventional cardiologist and that of a CT surgeon.

patients who benefit from hybrid procedures occupy a very small niche. bleeding complications are discouragingly high to make this mainstream protocol. PCI necessitates the use of clopidogrel and usually bivalrudin or IIbIIIa inhibitors, which in combination with a sternotomy spells more bleeding. not much to change this in the near future.

as for the rest, i agree with P diddy (can't believe I said that ).

 

[Maybach]

so does that mean that there will be a whole new specialty... thoracic surgeons?

 

[TxMed]

so does that mean that there will be a whole new specialty... thoracic surgeons?

that's not a new specialty. cardio-THORACIC surgeons will always have jobs as long as there are babies being born with congenital malformations and as long as people want to keep shooting each other in the chest.


-tm