Hello! My name is Dr. Vaughn Starnes and I am a cardiac surgeon having graduated from North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in 1977.
To date, I have performed approximately 12,000 cardiac surgeries, of which 4,000 involved heart valve procedures. I regularly perform surgery at hospitals including University of Southern California, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles.
I believe my greatest strength as a surgeon is:
"Twenty-five years experience operating on both children and adults. I feel fortunate to be gifted with the ability to carry-out extremely complex operations with relative ease. I also have a strong research and teaching interest and commitment to furthering USC's cardiac surgery discipline - specifically in areas of minimally invasive valve surgery, aortic valve surgery and congenital heart disease."
Specific to cardiac surgery, my specialties include:
Aortic valve replacement including the Ross Procedure
Mitral valve repair
Minimally invasive valve repair
Relative to heart valve research, I have the following interests:
I have relationships with each of the following insurance companies:
All major health insurance providers
Anthem Blue Cross
Aetna
To help you learn more about me, I have uploaded the video below. To watch the video, simply press the play button and please make sure the volume on your computer is turned up.
Here is what my patients say about me:
"Dr. Starnes did a minimally invasive, non robotic successful repair on my mitral valve at USC. Personal contact was minimum. He has a team in place to carry-out post operative care. The important thing was that he was able to complete a successful repair."
--Debby Tomlinson
Mitral Valve, Valve Repair, 09/13/2011
"Dr. Starnes was excellent, very caring, personable, and answered all questions. The results were outstanding."
--Myrna Gaskin
Aortic Valve, Valve Replacement, Mini Sternotomy, 05/03/2011
"I also had my ascending aorta replaced (Bental Procedure). Dr. Starnes is a highly rated cardiothoracic surgeon who is the head of USC University Hospital. Since this is a teaching hospital, I knew before the surgery that he would be leading residents and students through his rounds. I wasn't as concerned about his bedside manor since I knew he was a highly skilled surgeon."
--Craig Kappe
Aortic Valve, Valve Replacement, Median Sternotomy, 08/29/2010
"Although I didn't have much contact with him, except on the initial interview, I felt confident in his ability in that my recovery went very smoothly without much pain or complication."
--phyllis pivo
Mitral Valve, Valve Replacement, Median Sternotomy, Maze Procedure, 05/26/2009
"Excellent experience with the my surgeon's office, staff, surgical team and hospital (USC University Hospital). Limited contact with Dr. Starnes himself, as I had a fairly straight forward procedure (as if heart surgery is ever straight forward) but he was always personable, interested and confident. 100% successful and happy!"
--Tim Clackett
Mitral Valve, Valve Repair, Mini Sternotomy, 11/18/2008
"Following an aortic valve replacement nine months earlier, my aortic connective tissue continued to dissect. Due to two previous valve surgeries, I was referred to Dr. Starnes to take on the monumental task of replacing the aortic arch and descending artery to mid-chest. Dr. Starnes masterfully accomplished the mission and gave me a third opportunity at life."
--David Gray
Aortic Valve, Root Replacement, 08/22/2008
"Outstanding surgeon. Pleasant bedside manner. But most importantly he is an extraordinary surgeon and in other hands I would most likely have ended up with a mitral valve replacement rather then a repair. I feel very fortunate."
--Mara Rabin
Mitral Valve, Valve Repair, 02/06/2008
"This was my husbands 2nd surgery with Dr. Starnes. In July of 2003 Dr. Starnes performed a mitral valve repair and then the latest surgery was the aortic valve replacement. He was the BEST...We went from Arizona back to him for the 2nd surgery..the office staff, the PA"s all the residents and Dr. Starnes himself were very comforting and kept was informed each step of the way. We would always return to Dr. Starnes."
--Ed Crutchfield
Aortic Valve, Valve Replacement, 08/22/2007
"I consider Dr. Starnes to be the "Michael Jordan" of heart valve surgery. I conducted a very extensive surgeon selection process and was thrilled to learn that one of the best in the business was only 10 miles from my home in Los Angeles. I strongly recommend Dr. Starnes."
--Adam Pick
Aortic Valve, Pulmonary Valve, Valve Replacement, Ross Procedure, 12/21/2005
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about me and my practice. To contact me about your heart valve disorder, please click here.
