Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery

state of the art surgical therapies for heart failure

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Christiano C. B. Caldeira, MD

Dr. Caldeira is the co-founder of Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery (FACT Surgery).  A native of Brazil, he received his medical degree from the Federal University of Minas Gerais School of Medicine. He  subsequently moved to the US for training in cardiothoracic surgery. He finished his residency in cardiothoracic surgery at Case Western Reserve University, and his fellowship in lung transplantation, heart transplantation and ventricular assist devices at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

Dr. Caldeira's is an expert in high-risk cardiac surgical procedures, and has a special interest in surgical therapies for the treatment of heart failure. In addition to heart and lung transplantation, Dr. Caldeira is experienced in the use of implantable ventricular assist devices and left ventricular reconstruction surgery. He has mastered minimally invasive aortic and mitral valve repairs, surgical treatments for atrial fibrillation, and procedures for the treatment of aortic pathologies.

Dr. Caldeira is Board Certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Since completing his training, he has held numerous appointments including Staff Cardiothoracic Surgeon of the Veterans' Administration Office and Case Western Reserve University. He has served as Surgical Director of Lung Transplantation and Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Since moving to Tampa, Florida, in 2005, Dr. Caldeira has been appointed Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of South Florida and Associate Director of Heart Transplantation at Tampa General Hospital.  Dr. Caldeira has served as primary investigator for many clinical research studies and published numerous articles in journals including The Journal of Trauma, Archives of Surgery, Japanese Circulation Journal and The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

Cedric D. Sheffield, MD

Cedric D. Sheffield, M.D., is an experienced adult cardiothoracic transplant surgeon, co-founder of Florida Advanced Cardiothoracic Surgery (FACT Surgery). In addition to heart and lung transplantation, Dr. Sheffield specializes in more routine surgicalprocedures such as reoperative coronary surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and mitralvalve repair. He is also experienced in the use of implantable ventricular assist devices, which can serve as a bridge to transplant. Dr. Sheffield began his medical training at Duke University Medical School in Durham, North Carolina. Internship and residency in

general surgery followed at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, and theUniversity of Maryland Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Dr. Sheffield also completed research fellowships in coronary angiogenesis through the Cardiology Branch of the Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland and in cardiac electrophysiology in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University, School of Medicine in Washington, D.C. He completed a chief residency in traumatology at the prestigious Maryland Shock Trauma Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. A fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery followed at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Little Rock, Arkansas.

His extensive training culminated with a cardiothoracic transplantation and mechanical circulatory support fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation where he became an associate staff member. A published physician, Dr. Sheffield is certified by the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Thoracic Surgery