Usman Ahmad, MD

Usman Ahmad, MD, is a thoracic surgeon in the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute at Cleveland Clinic. He holds a joint appointment with the Taussig Cancer Institute and is Assistant Professor of Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University.

Specialty interests: Thoracic oncology; lung cancer; esophageal cancer; tracheal tumors; thymic tumors; chest wall tumors; lung transplant, minimally invasive thoracic surgery, including robotic, thorascopic, laparoscopic and bronchoscopic procedures; cancer outcomes; and general thoracic surgery

Number of Procedures Performed: Cleveland Clinic performs more than 1,800 general thoracic procedures each year.  All Cleveland Clinic thoracic surgeons complete between 350-450 thoracic cases per year. The majority of the thoracic surgeries he has performed were minimally invasive operations for patients with cancer and include robotic surgery for lung, esophageal and thymic tumors.

Success rates: Cleveland Clinic thoracic surgeons perform a wide range of conditions, including lung, esophageal, chest wall, pleural, tracheal, mediastinal, foregut and diaphragm disease. Cleveland Clinic contributes to the Society of Thoracic Surgery Database in order to maintain the highest possible standards. Our outcomes include the lowest risk-adjusted mortality rate for lobectomy and esophagectomy in the nation. Success rates for specific procedures are available at http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/about-heart-vascular-institute/treatment-outcomes.aspxoutcomes.aspx

Education and Training: Dr. Ahmad earned his medical degree from the Aga Khan University Medical College, Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. He completed an immunology and vascular biology research fellowship at the Yale School of Medicine’s Vascular Biology and Transplantation program, New Haven, CT. His internship and residency in general surgery were also completed at Yale, where he was named Chief Resident and Educational Chief Resident in his last year of training. Dr. Ahmad completed his training in cardiothoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and New York Presbyterian - Weil Cornell Medical Center, both in New York, NY.

Publications, Speaking and Research: Dr. Ahmad has a strong interest in cancer outcomes research and has written many peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. He has presented his research at meetings hosted by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, American Association of Thoracic Surgery, and the International Thymic Malignancy Interest Group.

About Dr. Ahmad: “When I care for a patient, I like to treat them as I would treat a friend or a family member. I educate my patients about their problem and help them make informed decisions. The expertise available at Cleveland Clinic allows us to provide efficient treatment to patients with complex thoracic problems. “