Services and Specialties
UPMC Passavant’s areas of special focus include cancer care, cardiac care, and orthopaedics and spine surgery. For referral to specialists in these areas who practice at UPMC Passavant, call
1-800-533-UPMC, or click here to search our physician database.
Cardiac Care
UPMC Passavant has been named a Blue Distinction CenterSM for Cardiac Care for 2007. Awarded by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, this distinction highlights programs that demonstrate best practices and standards of care in cardiac services. Programs are judged by comprehensiveness of services, volume of advanced heart procedures performed, surgeon qualifications, and patient outcomes.
Cardiac services at UPMC Passavant range from basic diagnostic testing to advanced imaging, electrophysiology, catheterization procedures, highly advanced open-heart surgery, and cardiac rehabilitation.
- Our interventional cardiologists diagnose and treat atherosclerosis, unstable angina, heart failure, severe heart valve disease, heart attack, and cardiogenic shock using advanced catheterization techniques.
- Electrophysiology experts offer a full range of treatments, including medications, pacemakers, implantable cardioverter defibrillators, biventricular pacing devices, and radiofrequency ablation.
- Our heart failure experts specialize in the management of patients with cardiomyopathy, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, and evaluation for transplantation and ventricular assist devices.
- Our cardiac surgeons specialize in complex procedures, such as mitral valve repair, aortic valve replacements, coronary artery revascularization, and left-ventricular reconstruction. They also have special expertise in endovein harvesting, a technique used with heart bypass graft surgery that can reduce postoperative pain and the chances of infection and complications.
Orthopaedics and Spine Surgery
At UPMC Passavant, our team of well-respected orthopaedic physicians, orthopaedic surgeons, skilled orthopaedic nurses, physical therapists, and radiologists specially trained in musculoskeletal imaging offer high-quality diagnosis and treatment for common orthopaedic problems such as broken bones, pulled muscles, joint disorders, and back problems. Our surgeons perform total joint replacement using minimally invasive surgical approaches when appropriate. And on-site physical and occupational therapy programs complete this full range of services.
Hundreds of spine surgeries are performed each year at UPMC Passavant by orthopaedic surgeons and neurosurgeons. These include highly advanced approaches using artificial discs, fusion techniques, and other stabilizing procedures.
- Our spine surgeons offer a minimally invasive approach to the spinal canal that allows the surgeon to approach the lumbar spine without having to cut muscle tissue.
- The X-STOP® implant relieves pinched nerves by keeping the space between the spinous processes open. Our surgeons can place the implant via a small incision in the back, allowing most patients to go home the same day or the day after surgery.
- As part of the UPMC Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, our Physical Therapy Department offers skilled therapists who can help those experiencing loss of function because of orthopaedic conditions, postsurgical problems, arthritis, neurological disorders, and balance and coordination problems.
Cancer Care
As part of the UPMC Cancer Centers network, UPMC Cancer Center at UPMC Passavant is an associated program of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the region's only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Our radiation oncologists and surgical oncologists work with our network of medical oncologists in the north to offer cancer patients advanced diagnosis and treatment close to home. Patients benefit from a team approach and have access to support services, such as nutrition counseling, stress management, and support groups.
- We offer on-board imaging (OBI) and 4-D respiratory gated radiation therapy - which captures the motion of a tumor as the patient breathes, allowing for more accurate treatment - as well as brachytherapy - radiation delivered via seed implants or through high-dose treatment.
- Our surgical oncologists have special expertise in breast, lung, esophageal, upper gastrointestinal, pancreas, colorectal, and liver cancers, and they offer specialized techniques, such as minimally invasive surgery, photodynamic therapy, and sentinel node mapping for breast cancer.
UPMC Passavant's new Comprehensive Breast Center provides patients with access to state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment, including digital mammography and MRI-guided breast biopsy, as well as access to breast cancer specialists, all in one convenient location.