Robert K. Wenger, MD, joins the Division of Cardiovascular Surgery at the University of Pennsylvania Health System as Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Brandywine Hospital.

Dr. Wenger received his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and completed a cardiothoracic research fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. He then completed a residency in surgery at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, serving as chief surgical resident his final year, and a residency in thoracic surgery at Emory University in Atlanta. Dr. Wenger joins Brandywine Hospital, an affiliate of Penn Cardiac Care, after serving as an attending surgeon at several Palm Beach hospitals and medical centers. He was also Director of the Center for Bloodless Medicine and Surgery at JFK Medical Center.

As Director of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Brandywine Hospital, Dr. Wenger's clinical focus will be on treating patients with cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. His vast clinical experience includes coronary artery bypass surgery with total arterial revascularization, off-pump bypass surgery, minimally invasive surgery, valve replacement and repair, and blood conservation techniques. Dr. Wenger has extensive surgical experience treating octogenarians and other high risk populations.

He is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and the American Board of Surgery. Dr. Wenger has been published in a variety of clinical articles and has conducted several clinical trials in cardiovascular and cardiothoracic surgery.

• American College of Chest Physicians (Fellow)
• American College of Surgeons (Fellow)
• International Society of Minimally Invasive Surgery
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons

1. Wachtfogel YT, Kucich U, Greenplate J, Gluszko P, Abrams W, Weinbaum G, Wenger RK, Rucinski B, Niewiarowski S, Edmunds LH Jr. Human neutrophil degranulation during extracorporeal circulation. Blood 69(1):324-330, Jan. 1987.
2. Gluszko P, Rucinski B, Musial J, Wenger RK, Schmaier AH, Colman RW, Edmunds LH Jr, Niewiarowski S. Fibrinogen receptors in platelet adhesion to surfaces of extracorporeal circuit. American Journal of Physiology 252(3 Pt 2):H615-621, Mar. 1987.
3. Bavaria JE, Ratcliffe MB, Gupta KB, Wenger RK, Bogen DK, Edmunds LH Jr. Changes in left ventricular systolic wall stress during biventricular circulatory assistance. Annals of Thoracic Surgery 45(5):526-532, May 1988.
4. Wenger RK, Bavaria JE, Ratcliffe MB, Bogen D, Edmunds LH Jr. Flow dynamics of peripheral venous catheters during extracorporeal membrane oxygenation with a centrifugal pump. Journal of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery 96(3):478-484, Sept. 1988.
5. Wenger RK, Lukasiewicz H, Mikuta BS, Niewiarowski S, Edmunds LH Jr. Loss of platelet fibrinogen receptors during clinical cardiopulmonary bypass. Journal of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery 97(2):235-239, Feb. 1989.
6. Ratcliffe MB, Bavaria JE, Wenger RK, Bogen DK, Edmunds LH Jr. Left ventricular mechanics of ejecting, postischemic hearts during left ventricular circulatory assistance. Journal of Thoracic & Cardiovascular Surgery 101(2):245-255, Feb. 1991.
7. Mansour KA, Wenger RK. T-tube management of late esophageal perforations. Surgery, Gynecology & Obstetrics 175(6):571-572, Dec. 1992.

1. Wenger RK, Gluszko P, Schmaier A, Rucinski B, Greenplate J, Stewart G, Niewiarowski S, Edmunds LH Jr. Platelet adherence to synthetic surfaces. Surgical Forum XXXVII, Oct. 1986.

1. Wenger RK, Mortensen JD. The intravascular oxygenator Ivox: Augmentation of blood-gas transfer. In Mora CT, ed.: Cardiopulmonary Bypass: Principles and Techniques of Extracorporeal Circulation. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1995, pp. 450-458.