Cardiothoracic Surgery Faculty

Dr. Lacour-Gayet is a world renowned pediatric heart surgeon who assumed his current role as Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at The Children’s Hospital in November 2002. He is widely regarded as one of the pioneering experts in the current trend toward total repair of complex congenital heart lesions during the neonatal time frame. Dr. Lacour-Gayet is the world’s most experienced surgeon with cardiac anomalies involving transposition of the great arteries and he has personally performed more than 600 neonatal arterial switch operations.

Dr. Lacour-Gayet is a graduate of the Medical University of Paris. He completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Residency at the Hospital of Paris. He then spent four years in full-time fellowship training in Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery at Marie Lannelongue Hospital in Paris, France. Marie Lannelongue Hospital is the largest pediatric cardiac surgical center in Europe and is noted for its excellence in neonatal cardiac surgery. Dr. Lacour-Gayet subsequently spent 15 years as a consultant surgeon at Marie Lannelongue Hospital. Prior to joining the University of Colorado Dr. Lacour-Gayet was Professor of Surgery and the Chief of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery at Eppendorf University in Hamburg, Germany. Dr. Lacour-Gayet is widely recognized for pioneering the development of a much needed complexity score – The Aristotle Score – for congenital cardiac surgery and the development of an international database to improve the quality of care in congenital cardiac surgery throughout the world. Since 2002, The Aristotle Score has been introduced in the database of the STS and EACTS as a benchmark to evaluate performance. Dr. Lacour-Gayet is currently developing an artificial right ventricle to be implanted in patients with single ventricle with failing Fontan circulation.

Dr. Lacour-Gayet is recognized as an outstanding educator in the field of pediatric cardiac surgery and has an active interest in fostering the education of congenital heart surgeons here and in undeserved parts of the world. During his time at The Children's Hospital he has trained 7 Cardiothoracic Fellows. Internationally, he has participated in the care of patients in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. Dr. Lacour-Gayet has published more than 150 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as book chapters on topics in pediatric cardiothoracic surgery.