Lankenau Medical Center earns distinguished top rating from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons for cardiac surgery

Wynnewood, PA — Lankenau Medical Center, part of Main Line Health, has received the distinguished top rating of three stars from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) for its patient care and outcomes in all analyzed procedures.

Lankenau Medical Center earned three stars in the multiprocedural overall category, which covers all heart and thoracic procedures rated by STS.

It also received the top rating in isolated aortic valve replacement (AVR) surgery, isolated mitral valve replacement and repair (MVRR) surgery, and isolated coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery, placing Lankenau Medical Center among the nation’s leaders in complex heart care.

“I am so thrilled to see our heart program earn these recognitions from STS,” said Basel Ramlawi, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Lankenau Medical Center and co-Director of the Lankenau Heart Institute. “We are a national leader in comprehensive minimally invasive, robotic and trans-catheter approaches to heart valve and coronary bypass surgery, with outstanding results as well in complex and innovative aortic aneurysm procedures. Patients can trust they’re receiving elite care close to home — or travel from across the country knowing they’ll be in expert hands that achieve top results.”

The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in healthcare, rating the benchmarked outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs in the U.S. and Canada. Twenty-nine percent of the 941 participants received the three-star rating for the multiprocedural composite measure. The latest analysis of data covers a three-year period, from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025.

“This is a testament to the excellent teamwork within the cardiac surgery program,” said Trudy Mazzone, MS, BSRT (R), Vice President of Main Line Health Cardiovascular Services and co-Director of the Lankenau Heart Institute. “Every day, our focus is on delivering exceptional care, achieving the best clinical outcomes, and driving innovation. I am grateful to our entire team — this recognition would not be possible without their dedication and collective effort.”

The multiprocedural award covers additional categories, including combined AVR and CABG, combined MVRR and CABG, multivalve, and combined multivalve and CABG.

Lankenau Medical Center was among a relative handful of participants attaining a three-star rating for AVR (top 4.4% nationally). The percentage was 12.1% for MVRR and 22.0% for CABG.

The STS National Database was established in 1989 as a voluntary initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardiothoracic surgeons.

“The Society of Thoracic Surgeons leads the effort in quality improvement by maintaining one of the most penetrant clinical databases in cardiothoracic surgery that employs high-fidelity risk models to provide risk-adjusted outcomes to individual participants”, said Ram Kumar Subramanyan, MD, PhD, Chair of the STS Council on Quality and Research. “STS thanks participants for voluntarily submitting data to the databases, demonstrating their commitment to improving healthcare delivery. Voluntary public reporting of outcomes by individual participants provides patients and their families with meaningful information to help them make informed decisions about healthcare.”

About STS

Founded in 1964, The Society of Thoracic Surgeons is a not-for-profit organization representing more than 7,800 cardiothoracic surgeons, researchers, and allied healthcare professionals worldwide who are dedicated to ensuring the best possible outcomes for surgeries of the heart, lung, and esophagus, as well as other surgical procedures within the chest. The Society’s mission is to enhance the ability of cardiothoracic surgeons to provide the highest quality patient care through education, research, and advocacy.