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Georg M. Wieselthaler, M.D.

Georg M. Wieselthaler, M.D.

  • Professor of Surgery
  • Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery

Contact Information

Academic Office
500 Parnassus Avenue, MUW-405, Box 0118
San Francisco, CA 94143
Tel: (415) 353-8196
Email:[email protected]
Admin:[email protected] 
 
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1976 - 1978 Graduation from College for Electrical Engineering, Vienna, Austria Electrical Engineering Electrical Engineering 
1978 - 1987 Graduation from Medical School 1987, University of Vienna, Austria MD

  • 1988 - 1989 Military Service at the Department of Surgery, Military Hospital, Vienna, Austria
  • 1989 - 1995 Residency and Surgical training at the 2nd Department of Surgery, Univeristy of Vienna (Chair: Univ. Prof.Dr. Ernst Wolner)
  • 1998 - 2000 "Vienna Heart Transplant Program" (Program Director: Univ. Prof.Dr. G. Laufer)
  • 2000 - 2003 "Vienna Lung Transplant Program
  • (Program Director: Univ. Prof. Dr. W. Klepetko)
  • 1996 - 1997 Advance Fellowship: Staff Surgeon at the Dept. of Cardiac Surgery, St. Pölten Hospital, Austria
  • 1997 - 1998 Advance Fellowship: Staff Surgeon at the Dept. of Cardiac Surgery, St. Pölten Hospital, Austria
  • UCSF Heart & Vascular Center
  • Acute Aortic Dissection Repair
  • Aortic Valve Repair & Replacement
  • Arrhythmia
  • Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)
  • End Stage Heart Failure
  • Heart Transplantation
  • Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery
  • Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery
  • Mitral Valve Repair & Replacement
  • Myocardial Revascularization Surgery
  • Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass (OBCAB)
  • Thoracic Aneurysm Repair
  • Thoracic Aortic Reconstruction
  • Ventricular Aneurysm
  • Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD)
  • Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD)
  • English, German

Georg M. Wieselthaler, M.D. is a heart transplant surgeon and one of the world´s leading experts in  mechanical circulatory support for end stage heart failure patients. A Professor of Surgery at UCSF and Director & Surgical Chief of Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support, Dr. Wieselthaler has performed  more than 350 heart transplants and developed extensive expertise in the implantation of numerous types of ventricular assist device (VAD) systems at the Medical University of Vienna.

Dr. Wieselthaler graduated with a degree in electrical engineering from the College for Electrical Engineering in Vienna, Austria and received his M.D. as well from the University of Vienna, Austria. He did his residency and surgical training at the 2nd Department of Surgery, University of Vienna and received advanced training in transplantation in the Vienna Heart Transplant Program and Vienna Lung Transplant Program. He also completed advanced fellowships as staff surgeon at the Dept. of Cardiac Surgery in St. Pölten Hospital, Austria.

Dr. Wieselthaler has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and has trained surgeons worldwide in implantation techniques and the use of varied   pulsatile and continuous flow ventricular assist devices. He is member of numerous national and international medical scientific societies and is President-Elect of the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps.

He is also a  member of the Board of the European Society for Artificial Organs and Past President of the Austrian Society for Implantology and Tissue integrated Protetics. In April 2011, Dr. Wieselthaler was named Director of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation. He is a frequent speaker and has served as chair for numerous national and international scientific conferences devoted to mechanical circulatory support and transplantation.

In 1984, while still in medical school, Dr. Wieselthaler became involved in the Ventricular Assist Device (VAD) Program  at the University of Vienna  and began working in the Biomedical Laboratory on the development of the driving unit for the "New Vienna Total Artificial Heart (TAH)". After graduation, Dr. Wieselthaler became aware of the advantages of rotary blood pumps and organized the world´s the first "International Workshop(s) on Rotary Blood Pumps" in the years 1988 and 1991 in Austria. Out of these meetings, the International Society for Rotary Blood Pumps was founded in 1992 with Dr. Wieselthaler acting as Secretary General for the organization for many years.

Dr. Wieselthaler and colleague Dr. Heinrich Schima, a biomedical engineer, then investigated and developed miniaturized centrifugal pumps over15 years in the Biomedical Laboratories of the University of Vienna. Dr. Wieselthaler thereafter became primary surgeon at the Medical University of Vienna where implanted various types of VAD systems and supervised patient care. He developed extensive expertise with pulsatile systems like Novacor LVAS and has had one of the longest supported patients on the device (over 4 1/2  years). He also developed the Thoratec paracorporeal and implantable VADs. One of his patients was supported more than 3 years on the world´s first full implantable VAD in the Arrow LionHeart CUPS Trial.

In 1998, Dr. Wieselthaler implanted the world's first implantable, miniaturized axial flow pumps, the MicroMed-DeBakey VAD and he has since implanted more than 80 patients with this device. Many of Dr. Wieselthaler´s leading scientific papers originated his early experience with the world´s first nonpulsatile pump, articles still cited by colleagues. Dr. Wieselthaler also served as  Principal Investigator and implanted the world´s first implantable, magnetically suspended centrifugal left ventricular assist device (LVAD), the "TERUMO DuraHeart LVAD".

In 2003, Dr. Wieselthaler joined a HeartWare Inc, Miramar, FL as a consultant and over the next three years, played a key role in the development the HeartWare HVAD, a miniaturized hydromagnatically levitated centrifugal pump. and in 2006, he implanted the world's first patients with this system.

Dr. Wieselthaler continued working with HeartWare on the next generation LVAD, known as the "Miniaturised Ventricular Assist Device (MVAD)", leading to two patent applications in his name for the technology: 1) a minimally invasive implantation technique of the MVAD, and 2) a special shaped inflow cannula tip for the MVAD.

Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
  • Study ID: NCT02268942
    Start Date: Nov 2014
    Estimated Completion Date: Oct 2018
    Condition(s): Heart Failure
MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 112
Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
  1. Rajapreyar I, Soliman O, Brailovsky Y, Tedford RJ, Gibson G, Mohacsi P, Hajduczok AG, Tchantchaleishvili V, Wieselthaler G, Rame JE, Caliskan K. Late Right Heart Failure After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Contemporary Insights and Future Perspectives. JACC Heart Fail. 2023 08; 11(8 Pt 1):865-878. View in PubMed
  2. Perri JL, Wieselthaler GM. Left ventricular thrombus with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: Novel technique of bronchoscope-guided thrombus retrieval. JTCVS Tech. 2022 Oct; 15:130-132. View in PubMed
  3. Macaluso GP, Pagani FD, Slaughter MS, Milano CA, Feller ED, Tatooles AJ, Rogers JG, Wieselthaler GM. Time in Therapeutic Range Significantly Impacts Survival and Adverse Events in Destination Therapy Patients. ASAIO J. 2022 01 01; 68(1):14-20. View in PubMed
  4. Wieselthaler GM, Klein L, Cheung AW, Danter MR, Strueber M, Mahr C, Mokadam NA, Maltais S, McGee EC. Two-Year Follow Up of the LATERAL Clinical Trial: A Focus on Adverse Events. Circ Heart Fail. 2021 04; 14(4):e006912. View in PubMed
  5. Mokadam NA, McGee E, Wieselthaler G, Pham DT, Bailey SH, Pretorius GV, Boeve TJ, Ismyrloglou E, Strueber M. Cost of Thoracotomy Approach: An Analysis of the LATERAL Trial. Ann Thorac Surg. 2020 11; 110(5):1512-1519. View in PubMed
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