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Cardiovascular Surgery Lab
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The lab supports surgical treatment of the heart and great vessels while investigating the mechanisms that protect the heart.
AboutAbout the lab
The best possible care, tailored to each individual patient
The Cardiovascular Surgery Lab works on surgical treatment of diseases of the heart and aorta, and on the research that supports it.
It provides a wide range of surgical care, from adult heart and aortic surgery to congenital heart disease in children, and ventricular assist devices and heart transplantation for severe heart failure.
In research, the lab focuses on autophagy, the cell's internal degradation system, and investigates surgery for heart failure and methods of protecting the heart during surgery and transplantation.
Basic research is led mainly by graduate students, who work on it during a period set aside for them to concentrate on research.
Key terms
- Autophagy
- A process by which cells break down their own components that are no longer needed and recycle them. The word literally means "self-eating."
- Left ventricular reconstruction
- A treatment in which the left ventricle, greatly enlarged by conditions such as myocardial infarction, is surgically reshaped to a smaller size.
- Atrial fibrillation
- An arrhythmia in which the upper chambers of the heart (the atria) quiver rapidly and irregularly. It can cause stroke and heart failure.
NewsLab news
A School of Medicine student wins the Top Prize at the HOPES 2026 Student Session
Hands-on surgery seminar and lab information session for medical students and residents held (May 2026)
Paper on distinguishing aortitis using whole-body MRI published in Diagnostics
Paper by a graduate student on myocardial protection in heart transplantation published in Current Issues in Molecular Biology
Paper on preventing postoperative atrial fibrillation with L-carnitine published in Surgery Today
ResearchResearch themes
In basic research, the lab focuses on autophagy in the myocardium. It aims to make surgery for severe heart failure (left ventricular reconstruction) available to more patients, and studies ways of protecting the myocardium during cardiac surgery and heart transplantation. In clinical research, it conducts an interventional study to prevent atrial fibrillation, an arrhythmia that is common after cardiac surgery.
*Illustrative imageLeft Ventricular Reconstruction and Autophagy
The lab uses a rat model to examine the changes that occur in the heart after left ventricular reconstruction for severe heart failure. It has shown that autophagy plays an important role in the left ventricle enlarging again after surgery.
*Illustrative imageProtecting the Heart and Preserving It for Longer
The lab studies the use of natural substances that activate autophagy to prevent the injury that occurs when blood flow, stopped during cardiac surgery, is restored. It applies the same idea to cold storage in heart transplantation, exploring ways to preserve hearts longer and more safely, given that transporting organs takes a long time in Hokkaido.
*Illustrative imageAiming for "Zero" Atrial Fibrillation After Surgery
This research aims to prevent atrial fibrillation, which is common after cardiac surgery. The lab found that the activity of a gene that transports fatty acids in atrial muscle is reduced, and is conducting a clinical study of supplementation with L-carnitine, which assists fatty acid transport.
MembersFaculty
The Cardiovascular Surgery Lab consists of faculty members, hospital staff physicians, and graduate students. Physicians from the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery at Hokkaido University Hospital also take part in providing guidance.As of 2026
- ProfessorSatoru Wakasa
- LecturerYasushige Shingu
- Assistant ProfessorKoji Satoh
- Assistant ProfessorHiroshi Sugiki
- Assistant ProfessorNobuyasu Kato
- Assistant ProfessorTaro Minamida
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “A moulage of heart” Realmastery / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Left Ventricular Reconstruction and Autophagy: “Cardiac surgery operating room” Pfree2014 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Protecting the Heart and Preserving It for Longer: “Cardiac muscle histology 400x” Alexander G. Cheroske / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Aiming for "Zero" Atrial Fibrillation After Surgery: “L-carnitina-densidad-electronica” Manuel Almagro Rivas / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Molecular Mechanisms of Life Lab): “Autophagosomes” Genericuser / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Cardiovascular Medicine Lab): “Dresden, Deutsches Hygiene-Museum, anatomisches Modell, Herz” Dguendel / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Cancer Genomic Medicine Lab): “DNA Nanoball sequencing flow cell” Suspencewl / CC0 (cropped)
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