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Department of Surgery »  Faculty »  Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery »  Kai Ihnken, M.D.
Kai Ihnken, M.D.

Kai Ihnken, M.D.

Associate Professor of Surgery
Division of Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery

Contact Information

Academic Office:
500 Parnassus Ave, MUW 405, Box 0118
San Francisco, CA 94143
tel: 415-353-8890
fax: 415-353-4716
kai.ihnken@ucsf.edu
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Education

Justus Liebig University, Giessen Germany, Summa cum laude, M.D.

Residencies

  • Jul 2001 – Jul 2004 Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
  • Jun 1997 – Jun 2001 Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, Department of Surgery
  • Feb 1995 – Feb 1996 Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany, Department of Cardiovascular Surgery
  • Jan 1994 – Jan 1995/ J. W. Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany
  • Jun 1989 – Sep 1991 Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery

Fellowships

  • 2014-2015 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, Thoracic Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support

Board Certifications

  • American Board of Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic and Cardiac Surgery

Clinical Expertise

  • Acute Aortic Dissection Repair
  • Aortic Valve Repair & Replacement
  • Arrhythmia
  • Arterial Coronary Artery Revascularization
  • Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)
  • ECMO
  • End Stage Heart Failure
  • Heart Transplantation
  • Long and Short Term Ventricular Assist Devices (VAD)
  • Minimally Invasive Arrhythmia Ablation
  • 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

Research Interests

  • Hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in the immature heart
  • Ischemia/reperfusion injury in skeletal muscle and the myocardium

Foreign Languages Spoken

  • German

Biography

Dr. Kai Ihnken is cardiac and heart transplant surgeon who specializes in advanced state-of-the-art surgical therapies for heart failure. 

Dr. Ihnken received his medical degree from Justus Liebig University, Giessen Germany with Summa cum laude. During Medical school he investigated the relationship of coronary artery disease and fibrinolysis at the Max-Planck-Institution. His doctoral thesis was awarded with the highest honor. Subsequently, he completed residencies at J.W. Goethe University and Albert-Ludwigs University in Germany and Stanford University in the United States. Additionally, he completed a research fellowship at UCLA and a cardiothoracic transplant/mechanical circulatory support fellowship at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles. 

Dr. Ihnken was previously the Surgical Director for Heart Transplantation, Heart Failure, Mechanical Circulatory Support and ECMO at Providence Health in Spokane, WA. He was on the faculty at Stanford University from 2005 to 2011 and has held a number of leadership positions. 

Dr. Ihnken has won numerous awards including the Patient's Choice Award, Compassionate Doctor Recognition, Customer service Awards, California State Recognition, Young Investigator Awards, as well as multiple other research awards. He has served or serves as a manuscript reviewer for multiple national and international journals in the area of cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery including JTS, ATS, JACC and is a current or previous member of numerous international cardiothoracic and transplant societies including ISHLT, STS, AHA.

Awards & Honors

  Award  
  Confired By    
  Date    
  • The compassionate Doctor Award
  • PatientsChoice.org
  • 2011
  • Customer Service Award
  • Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
  • 2008
  • Customer Service Award
  • Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
  • 2007
  • Certificate of Recognition
  • California State Senate
  • 2006
  • Outstanding Achievement Award
  • Stanford University
  • 2001
  • Ernst-Derra-Price, Annual award for most outstanding research
  • German Association of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
  • 1997
  • Young Investigators Award
  • American College of Angiology
  • 1995
  • Dos Santos Award
  • European Society for Cardiovascular Surgery
  • 1994
  • Young Investigators Award
  • American College of Angiology
  • 1993
  • Young Investigators Award
  • American Heart Association
  • 1992
  • Doctoral thesis (magna cum laude)
  • Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
  • 1991
  • Medical school graduation (summa cum laude)
  • Justus-Liebig University
  • 1989

    • Research Overview

    Dr. Ihnken's research focus is on ischemia/reperfusion injury in skeletal muscle and the myocardium, as well as hypoxia/reoxygenation injury in the immature heart. His breakthrough research has resulted in a number of clinical firsts including:

    • First clinical application of controlled limb reperfusion in North America
    • First worldwide application of controlled limb reperfusion
    • First description of normoxic cardiopulmonary bypass.
    • First description of "Controlled reoxygenation" to prevent reoxygenation injury
    • First description and clinical application of simultaneous antegrade and/retrograde cardioplegic delivery 

     

    Publications

    MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS FROM A TOTAL OF 58
    Data provided by UCSF Profiles, powered by CTSI
    1. Woodard GA, Lee H, Fels Elliott DR, Jones KD, Wong J, Jablons DM, Ihnken K. Case report: recurrent metastatic breast cancer in internal mammary dissection bed discovered at the time of coronary bypass. J Cardiothorac Surg. 2019 Sep 05; 14(1):158. View in PubMed
    2. Ihnken KA, Ramzy D, Esmailian F, Trento A, Arabía FA. Surgical Technique to Facilitate Explantation of Mechanical Circulatory Support Devices: LVADs, BiVADs, and TAHs Before Heart Transplantation. ASAIO J. 2016 Mar-Apr; 62(2):211-3. View in PubMed
    3. Reich H, Ramzy D, Czer L, Esmailian F, Moriguchi J, Ihnken K, Yusufali T, D'Attellis N, Arabia F, Annamalai A. Hemodynamic Consequences of Laparoscopy for Patients on Mechanical Circulatory Support. J Laparoendosc Adv Surg Tech A. 2015 Dec; 25(12):999-1004. View in PubMed
    4. Ruzza A, Czer LS, Ihnken KA, Sasevich M, Trento A, Ramzy D, Esmailian F, Moriguchi J, Kobashigawa J, Arabia F. Combined heart-kidney transplantation after total artificial heart insertion. Transplant Proc. 2015 Jan-Feb; 47(1):210-2. View in PubMed
    5. Singh SK, Ihnken KA. Intraoperative fluorescence angiography to identify and confirm repair of intramyocardial left anterior descending coronary artery aneurysm. Ann Thorac Surg. 2010 Oct; 90(4):e62. View in PubMed
    6. View All Publications

    In the News

    • Dr. Kai Ihnken Awarded Inaugural UCSF Thoracic Residency Program Teaching Award for 2019

      UCSF Adult Cardiothoracic Surgery - Richard Barg - December 16, 2019
      Kai Ihnken, M.D. has been awarded the Inaugural UCSF Thoracic Residency Program Teaching Award for 2019, in recognition of his outstanding teaching efforts for thoracic surgery residents inside and outside of the OR.  Dr. Kai Ihnken is cardiac and heart transplant surgeon who specializes in advanced state-of-the-art surgical therapies for heart failure. Dr. Ihnken received his medical degree from Justus Liebig University, Giessen Germany with Summa cum laude. Subsequently, he completed [...]

     

     
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