W. Randolph Chitwood, Jr., M.D. '74
Focusing on repairing rather than replacing
If you look at the CV of W. Randolph "Ranny" Chitwood, Jr., M.D. '74, you may wonder what inspired this amateur photographer, ham radio operator, and former textile chemist to attend the School of Medicine and find international success as a heart surgeon.
"It was technology," says the Wytheville, Va., native. "It's always fascinated me. I just didn't recognize my interest in medicine right away."Chitwood may have taken his time getting to Charlottesville simply because he knew the way so well. Several family members-his father, mother, an uncle, an aunt, and his father-in-law-preceded him to the University of Virginia. Once making the decision, however, he reveled in the challenge. Chitwood remembers accompanying Dr. Joe Craver, chief resident on the surgical service, to watch Dr. William H. Muller, Jr. in the operating room. "Joe said to me, ‘Boy, you should be a heart surgeon,' and after watching Dr. Muller, I began to think he was right."
Chitwood finished medical school in three years and embarked upon a decade of surgical training at Duke University. He joined the faculty of the East Carolina University (ECU) School of Medicine immediately thereafter as a full professor and chief of the Division of Cardiac Surgery.
Despite his considerable skill, Chitwood was troubled by the limitations of traditional open-heart surgery. He did not appreciate its emphasis on replacing, rather than repairing, faulty valves, often with unsatisfactory results. He was the first physician in North America to use voice-activated robotic technology to repair mitral valves. Working with surgeons at the University of Leipzig in 1998, he perfected robotic valve repairs using the da Vinci system, and introduced the method in the U.S. two years later.
Chitwood has performed more than 750 endoscopic mitral valve repairs in the United States, Europe, and Asia while instructing more than 150 heart surgeons. A prolific writer and editor, he is a former president of the International Society for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery and the Society for Heart Valve Disease. Dr. Chitwood is currently professor of surgery, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, and senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences at ECU. He is president-elect of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons.
"I've known Ranny throughout my career," says Irving L. Kron, M.D., who chairs UVa's Department of Surgery and leads its Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery. "His energy and enthusiasm have helped him become the world's expert in robotic cardiac surgery."
Dr. Chitwood may find his career consuming, but Virginia is never far from his mind or heart. Last fall his family returned to Charlottesville for the wedding of daughter Anne, a 1995 UVa graduate, in the University Chapel. "At UVa there's a spirit that I haven't found anywhere else," he says. "It's a very special place."