Cardiovascular Surgery

Boulder Valley's most experienced heart surgery team

cardiology heart boulder community health Cardiothoracic Surgery chair Dr. Daniel O'Hair and highly skilled surgeon Dr. Bryan Mahan lead the only full-service Cardiothoracic Surgery program -- and the only full-time Open Heart Surgery program -- performing procedures in the Boulder Valley.

With more than 50 years of combined experience, our cardiovascular surgical team offers considerable expertise that leads to better outcomes and healthier lives. At Foothills Hospital in Boulder, our expert team performs a complete range of advanced thoracic and cardiovascular surgeries and minimally invasive procedures, including mitral valve repair using the latest da Vinci Xi™ technology.

Heart Surgery Services

We specialize in treating adult heart disease, including the following conditions and treatments:

Aortic aneurysms
Aortic root replacement and repair
Aortic dissection
Aortic valve replacement and repair
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)
Complex re-operative surgeries
Robotic-assisted mitral valve repair using the da Vinci Xi™ surgical system
Heart infections
Lung cancer and other chest diseases requiring surgery
Mitral valve replacement and repair
Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation (Cox-Maze IV procedure)
Tricuspid valve replacement and repair

BCH cardiovascular and thoracic surgeons Dr. Daniel O'Hair and Dr. Bryan Mahan have extensive experience with traditional and minimally-invasive procedures. Please call 303-442-2395 to schedule an appointment today.

Minimally-Invasive Heart Procedures

Cox-Maze IV - Surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common cardiac arrhythmia, is a major cause of stroke, and is increasing in prevalence. Treatment options include anticoagulant medications and catheter-based or surgical procedures. Surgical treatments for AFib have improved greatly over the past two decades. Boulder Heart's heart surgeons offer extensive experience in the current the gold standard for surgical AFib treatment: the Cox-Maze IV procedure. Involving only small incisions and punctures, Cox-Maze IV combines bipolar radiofrequency with cryoablation.

Hybrid ablation - Addressing difficult-to-treat AFib
BCH's heart surgeons are one of only handful of surgeons in the state to perform hybrid ablation, an advanced, minimally invasive procedure to treat atrial fibrillation. Hybrid ablation is a collaborative procedure performed by both a heart surgeon and an electrophysiologist in which the heart surgeon creates scar tissue on the outside of the heart while the electrophysiologist does the same on the inside by using a catheter-led device to freeze malfunctioning tissue. The resulting “helpful” scar tissue blocks damaged electrical pathways that cause AFib's characteristic irregular heartbeat. Patients experience only three small incisions in the chest and small punctures in the groin, and can return home after just one or two nights in the hospital.

Robotic-assisted mitral valve repair - Noninvasive treatment to repair failing mitral valves
Robotically assisted mitral valve surgery is a type of minimally invasive heart surgery on the mitral valve with an endoscopic, closed chest approach. At Boulder Heart, it is performed by Dr. Daniel O'Hair, Colorado's most experienced surgeon with this innovative procedure. Your heart has four valves: mitral, tricuspid, aortic and pulmonic. The mitral valve lies between the upper heart chamber and the lower heart chamber. In patients with sever mitral valve disease, the valve must be repaired or replaced, with a preference for the former. If you require mitral valve surgery, either repair or replacement, you may be a candidate for robotically assisted mitral valve surgery.

Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR) - Repairing aortic aneurysms
TEVAR repairs the aorta using a stent-graft, a flexible metal coil that seals off the weak part of the aorta and protects it from growing any larger. Since TEVAR only requires small groin incisions, it typically leads to shorter hospital stays and quicker recovery times compared to traditional surgical approaches.