Dr. Arnar Geirsson, MD, FACS, FAHA

Clinical Trials

• Transcatheter Mitral Valve Replacement With the Medtronic Intrepid™ TMVR System in Patients With Severe Symptomatic Mitral Regurgitation
• Evaluating the Benefit of Concurrent Tricuspid Valve Repair During Mitral Surgery

Media Releases

Get to know Cardiothoracic Surgeon Dr. Arnar Geirsson, who serves patients in New Haven, Connecticut. 

Dr. Geirsson is a well-respected cardiothoracic surgeon and a specialist in heart valve disease and thoracic aneurysm. He performs valve repairs on the mitral, tricuspid and aortic valves, as well as valve-sparing root operations. He has special interest in complex heart surgery such as multi-valve operation and re-operations in high-risk patients.

Professionally, he serves as Chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery at Yale Medicine, as well as Surgeon-In-Chief of Cardiac Surgery & Surgical Director of Advanced Heart Failure, Heart Transplant and Mechanical Support at Yale New Haven Hospital. “At Yale Medicine, we are fortunate to have an outstanding team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, cardiologists, nurses and operating room staff, as well as the infrastructure that allows us to take on any type of challenging cases with outstanding results” expressed Dr. Geirsson.

An Associate Professor within the Department of Surgery at Yale School of Medicine, he believes one of the most important things a cardiac surgeon can do is to develop the kind of personal relationship that allows him to establish trust with the patient and patient’s family. 

“We understand the prospect of undergoing cardiac surgery is difficult, for the patient as well as for the family. Undergoing an open-heart operation is a life-changing event that can bring significant stress and anxiety. My care philosophy is to ensure I listen and respond to any complaints and concerns my patient may have” as stated by Dr. Geirsson. If a patient needs surgery, he explains the procedure in detail, and makes sure he or she understands what to expect prior to and during their hospital stay. He also explains what their recovery will involve—including the amount of pain, immobility, and restriction to expect. 

Whenever possible, Dr. Geirsson uses minimally-invasive surgical techniques, including right thoracotomy, small sternotomy, and percutaneous techniques. He also performs robotic coronary bypass operation, sometimes as part of a hybrid revascularization procedure. “At Yale Medicine, our focus on innovation and research allows us to use the most advanced technologies to provide patients with smaller incisions, shorter hospital stays and less postoperative discomfort, whenever possible” he stated.

Transplanting into his academic background, Dr. Geirsson graduated with his medical degree from the University of Iceland, Faculty of Medicine in 1997. A year later, he completed his internship at Landspitali University Hospital.

After moving to the United States, he went on to perform his residency in general surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital in 2005, followed by his fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 2007.

From 2007 until 2013, he served as the Director of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at Yale. He performed the first valve-sparing root replacement at Yale in 2008; the first hybrid revascularization at the West Haven VA in 2008; the first right thoracotomy mitral valve repair at Yale in 2009; the first robotic heart operation at Yale in 2011; and the first robotic mitral valve surgery at the said facility in 2018. 

Earning local and regional respect for exemplary clinical outcomes, Dr. Geirsson is board-certified in thoracic and cardiac surgery by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, which is an American surgical organization devoted to surgery of the chest. 

A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS) and a Fellow of the American Heart Association (FAHA), he is a member of the American Association for Thoracic Surgery, the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, the European Society of CardioVascular Surgery, and the Heart Valve Society. 

Cardiothoracic surgery is the field of medicine involved in the surgical treatment of organs inside the thorax. Cardiothoracic surgeons are medical doctors who specialize in surgical procedures inside the thorax, which may involve the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest. Alongside performing surgery, they also diagnose and treat diseases of these organs. 

An active clinical researcher involved in both clinical trials and outcome research, Dr. Geirsson is interested in finding even better ways to treat valve disease, thoracic aneurysm disease, and aortic dissection. He also conducts basic research to better understand how cardiac diseases develop, especially diseases that are related to aortic aneurysms and heart valves.  

He has published various research articles in both basic and clinical science, and also serves as an Editorial Reviewer for the Annals of Thoracic Surgery, the Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery & the Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation and Circulation.

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