Insurance Accepted: 6 Degrees - Transplant; 90 Degree Benefits - Third Party Administrator; Administrative Concepts - Third Party Administrator; Aetna (Coventry) - Work Comp/Auto; Aetna Better Health - CHIP/CHIP Perinate Newborn; Aetna Better Health - Medicaid STAR; Aetna Health - Commercial (Choice POS II, Elect Choice EPO, Exchange (Silver/Gold HMO)); Aetna Health - Commercial (HMO, Managed Choice POS, Meritain, Open Choice PPO); Aetna Health - Commercial (QPOS, SAISD, Select); Aetna Health - Medicaid Dual Preferred (HMO D-SNP); Aetna Health - Medicare Advantage (Eagle PPO, Freedom PPO, Premier HMO, Prime HMO, Value Plus PPO); Aetna Health - Transplant ONLY; Allegiance - Universal Benefits Consortium; Allied Benefit Systems - Third Party Administrator; Allwell (Superior HealthPlan) - Medicare Advantage; Ancira Enterprises - Direct Employer; Benefit Administrative Systems - Third Party Administrator; BlueCross BlueShield (Federal Programs) - Commercial (Federal - All Products); BlueCross BlueShield (Out-of-State) - Commercial (Out of State - Blue Card Program Only); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Commercial (Blue Premier HMO, Blue Choice PPO); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Commercial (CHIP, Blue Advantagage HMO, Blue Essentials HMO); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Commercial (ERS, TRS, State of TX Employees); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - HPN/EPO (Narrow Network); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Medicare Advantage (HMO, PPO); BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligible Plans; BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Traditional/Par Network; BlueCross BlueShield of Texas - Transplant Network; Care Improvement Plus - Medicare Advantage (Special Needs Plan); Century Healthcare - Third Party Administrator; CHAMPVA - Governmental; Cigna - Employer Specific Network (United Benefits Consortium); Cigna - Employer Specific Network (USAA Employees & Dependents Only); Cigna Health Spring - Medicare Advantage (WellMed); Community First Health Plans - CHIP/CHIP Perinate Newborn; Community First Health Plans - Commercial (HMO, Exchange); Community First Health Plans - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); Community First Health Plans - Medicare Advantage (HMO); Community First Health Plans - University Family Care Plan; Curative - Commercial (All Products); Driscoll Health Plan - Medicaid (All products); EBSO Benefits - Third Party Administrator; El Paso Health - CHIP; El Paso Health - Medicaid STAR; Employers Health Network - Commerical (PPO); Entrust - Third Party Administrator; First Health - Commercial (All Products); FirstCare (Part of Baylor Scott & White) - Medicaid-STAR; Galaxy Health Network - Commercial (All products); Gilsbar - Third Party Administrator; Group and Pension Administrators - Third Party Administrator; HealthSmart (Accel) - Commercial (All products); HMA LLC - Third Party Administrator; Humana - Medicare Advantage (HMO, PPO, WellMed); Humana - Transplant Network; Humana Military - TRICARE East Region; Imagine 360 - Third Party Administrator; Imperial Health - Commercial (Exchange); Imperial Health Plan - Medicare Advantage; Independent Medical Systems - Commercial (PPO); Independent Medical Systems - Workers Compensation; Injury Management Organization - Workers Compensation; Interlink - Transplant Network; International Benefits Administrators - Third Party Administrator; Kempton Group Administrators - Third Party Administrator; Key Benefits Administrators - Third Party Administrator; LifeTrac - Transplant Network; Lucent Health - Third Party Administrator; Medicaid (Traditional) - Medicaid/Medicare; Molina Healthcare - CHIP/CHIP Perinate; Molina Healthcare - Commercial (Exchange); Molina Healthcare - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); Molina Healthcare - Medicare Advantage; Molina Healthcare - Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligible Plans; MultiPlan - Commercial (All products); OptumHealth - Transplant Network; Oscar - Commercial Exchange; Point Comfort Underwriters - Refugee Medical Assistance (Adults, Children); Prime Health Services - Commercial (PPO); Prime Health Services - Medicare Advantage (All Products); Prime Health Services - Workers Compensation; Private Healthcare Systems - Commercial (All Products); ProCare Advantage - Medicare Advantage (Special Needs Plan); Provider Network of America - Commercial (All Products); Provider Partners Health Plan - Medicare Advantage (Special Needs Plan); SANA Benefits - Commercial (All Products); Scott & White Health Plan - Commercial (Exchange, HMO, PPO); Scott & White Health Plan - Medicaid/Medicare Advantage (All Products); Superior HealthPlan - CHIP/CHIP Perinate; Superior HealthPlan - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Health Foster Care, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); Superior HealthPlan - Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligible Plans; Surest (United Healthcare) - Commercial (All Products); Texas Independence Health Plan - Medicare Advantage (Special Needs Plan); Three Rivers Provider Network (Contigo) - Commercial (PPO); Tokio Marine - Transplant Network; TriWest - TRICARE West Region; TriWest - VA Community Care Network; Trustmark Benefits (f/k/a CoreSource) - Third Party Administrator; UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Charter EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Choice Plus POS/PPO/Choice Plus-HAS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Compass EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Core and Core Choice Plus EPO/HMO); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Doctors Plan EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Heritage EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Indemnity); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Navigate EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Nexus ACO/EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (PPO); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Select EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Commercial (Select Plus EPO/HMO/POS); UnitedHealthcare - Medicare Advantage (AARP Plans, Complete Care Plans, Erickson Advantage Plans); UnitedHealthcare - Medicare Advantage (UnitedHealthcare Group Plans, WellMed); UnitedHealthcare Community Plan - CHIP/CHIP Perinate; UnitedHealthcare Community Plan - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); UnitedHealthcare Community Plan - Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligible Plans; Universal Benefits Consortium (Allegiance) - Direct Contract with TPA/Broker for select ISDs; University of Incarnate Word - Direct Contact with Employer; Velocity National Provider Network - Commercial (Multiple Payers); Velocity National Provider Network - Commercial (PPO); Veterans Administration - Governmental; WebTPA - Third Party Administrator; WellCare - Medicare Advantage; WellMed (Gonzaba Medical Group IPA) - Medicare Advantage (Transplant Only); WellMed - Medicare Advantage (Cigna HealthSpring, Humana, United Healthcare, WellPoint); WellPoint (Gonzaba) - Medicare Advantage (TRANSPLANTS ONLY); WellPoint - CHIP/CHIP Perinate; WellPoint - Commercial (Exchange); WellPoint - Medicaid (STAR, STAR Kids, STAR PLUS); WellPoint - Medicare Advantage (All Products); WellPoint - Medicare Advantage (Transplant Only); WellPoint - Medicare Advantage (WellMed); WellPoint - Medicare-Medicaid Dual Eligible Plans; Zelis - Third Party Administrator

Please contact your health insurance company to confirm provider participation. For billing and insurance questions, please call our Billing Department at 210-358-3260.

I am an adult cardiac surgeon with expertise in mitral valve repair and lung transplantation.
Career Highlights: I have held many leadership positions throughout my career, including chief of cardiothoracic surgery and chief of the surgery section at the South Texas Veterans Health Care System.; In 2012, I became chief of the division of adult cardiac surgery at University Health and UT Health San Antonio. Now, I currently serve as the surgical director of the lung transplant program and vice chair of cardiothoracic surgery.
Philosophy of Care Statement: I am committed to surgical education and clinical outcomes research. My involvement in these areas has been a driving force behind my academic career.
Areas of Interests: My clinical interests extend to other areas of cardiac surgery, including the surgical treatment of atrial fibrillation.

Journal Articles

Katona MA, Walker JL, Das NA, Miller SR, Sako EY. .Using a quality improvement initiative to reduce acute kidney injury during on-pump coronary artery bypass grafting. Perfusion 2020 Jun .
Genuth SM, Vlachos H, Brooks MM, Bantle JP, Chaitman BR, Green J, Kelsey SF, King SB 3rd, McBane R, Sako EY, Schneider DJ, Steffes M, Frye RL..BARI 2D Study Group. BARI 2D: A Reanalysis Focusing on Cardiovascular Events. Mayo Clin Proc 2019 Nov;94(11):2249-2262. .
Oglesby M, Escobedo D, Escobar GP, Fatemifar F, Sako EY, Bailey SR, Han HC, Feldman MD. .Trabecular cutting: a novel surgical therapy to increase diastolic compliance. J Appl Physiol 2019 Aug;127(2):457-463..
Pruthi DK, Wang H, Satsangi A, Cajipe M, Iffrig K, Haidar GM, Hicks T, Sako EY, Liss MA, Chowdhury WH, Rodriguez R, Kaushik D. .Contemporary surgical outcomes of venous tumour thrombectomy managed with intraoperative Doppler ultrasound for kidney cancer Can Urol Assoc J 2018 May .
Singh A, Schaff HV, Mori Brooks M, Hlatky MA, Wisniewski SR, Frye RL, Sako EY; BARI 2D Study Group..On-pump versus off-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery among patients with type 2 diabetes in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes trial Eur J Cardiothor Surg 2016 Feb;49(2):406-416. .
Adams AJ, Wasson EA, Admire JR, Gomez PP, Babayeuski RA, Sako EY, Willis RE. .A comparison of teaching modalities and fidelity of simulation levels in teaching resuscitation scenarios Journal of Surg Ed 2015 Sep;72(5):778-785. .
Adkins A, Aleman J, Boies L, Sako E, Bhattacharya S, Sako EY. .Force Required to Cinch the Tricuspid Annulus: An Ex-Vivo Study. J Heart Valve Dis 2015 Sep;24(5):644-652. .
Copeland LA, Zeber JE, Sako EY, Mortensen EM, Pugh MJ, Wang CP, Restrepo MI, Flynn J, MacCarthy AA, Lawrence VA..Serious mental illnesses associated with receipt of surgery in retrospective analysis of patients in the Veterans Health Administration. BMC Surg 2015 Jun;15(74):doi:10 .
Sako EY, Brooks MM, Hardison RM, Schaff H, Frye RL. .Coronary artery bypass in patients with type 2 diabetes: experience from the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes trial J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2014 Oct;148(4):1268-1272..
Bayer J, Das NA, Basiden CE, Rani M, Schwacha MG, Sako EY, Williams RO, Peters JI, Johnson SB. .Effect of inhaled tacrolimus on ischemia reperfusion injury in a rat lung transplant model. The Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery 2013 Sep;146(5):1213-1219. .
Brooks MM, Chaitman BR, Nesto RW, Hardison RM, Feit F, Gersh BJ, Krone RJ, Sako EY, Rogers WJ, Garber AJ, King SB, Davidson CJ, Ikeno F, Frye RL. .Clinical and Angiographic Risk Stratification and Differential Impact on Treatment Outcomes in the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) Trial. Circulation 2012 Oct;126(17):2115-2124. .
Argenziano M, Skipper E, Heimansohn D, Letsou GV, Woo YJ, Kron I, Alexander J, Cleveland J, Kong B, Davidson M, Vassiliades T, Krieger K, Sako E, Tibi P, Galloway A, Foster E, Feldman T, Glower D, Sako EY. .Surgical revision after percutaneous mitral repair with the MitraClip device. Ann Thorac Surg 2010 Jan;89(1):72-80. .
BARI 2D Study Group, Frye, RL, August, P, Brooks, M, Hardison, R, Kelsey, S, MacGregor, J, Orchard, T, Chaitman, B, Genuth, S, Goldberg, S, Hlatky, M, Jones, TLZ, Molich, M, Nesto, R, Sako EY, Sobel, B..A randomized trial of therapies for type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease. New England Journal of Medicine 2009 Jun;360(24):2503-2515. .
Angel LF, Levine DJ, Restrepo MI, Johnson S, Sako E, Carpenter A, Calhoon J, Cornell JE, Adams SG, Chisholm GB, Nespral J, Roberson A, Levine SM, Calhoon JH. .Impact of a lung transplantation donor-management protocol on lung donation and recipient outcomes. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2006 Sep;174(6):710-716. .
Johnson SB, Allred AM, Cline AM, Angel LF, Sako EY, Baisden CE, Calhoon JH. .Cardiac procedures in lung transplant recipients do not increase mortality in selected patients. Ann Thorac Surg 2006 Aug;82(2):460-464. .
Sako EY, Petrusa ER, Paukert JL. .Factors influencing outcome of the American Board of Surgery Certifying examination: an observational study. J Surg Res 2002 Jun;105(2):75-80. .
Homma A, Anzueto A, Peters JI, Susanto I, Sako E, Zabalgoitia M, Bryan CL, Levine SM. .Pulmonary artery systolic pressures estimated by echocardiogram vs cardiac catheterization in patients awaiting lung transplantation J Heart Lung Transpl 2001 Aug;20(8):833-839. .
Angel LF, Cai TH, Sako EY, Levine SM..Posttransplant lymphoproliferative disorders in lung transplant recipients: clinical experience at a single center. Ann Transplant 2000;5(3):26-30..
Patterson JE, Peters J, Calhoon, JH, Levine S, Anzueto A, Al-Abdely H, Sanchez R, Patterson TF, Rech M, Jorgensen JH, Rinaldi MG, Sako E, Johnson S, Speeg V, Halff GA, Trinkle JK..Investigation and control of aspergillosis and other filamentous fungal infections in solid organ transplant recipients Transpl Infect Dis 2000 Mar;2(1):22-28. .
Cai TH, Moody JM, Sako EY. .Mitral valve aneurysm due to severe aortic valve regurgitation. Circulation 1999 Sep;100(12):53-56. .
Susanto I, Peters JI, Levine SM, Sako EY, Anzueto A, Bryan CL. .Use of balloon expandable metallic stents in the management of bronchial stenosis and bronchomalacia after lung transplantation. Chest 1998 Nov;114(5):1330-1335. .
Undar A, Holland MC, Howelton RV, Benson CK, Ybarra JR, Miller OL, Rossbach MM, Runge TM, Johnson SB, Sako EY, Calhoon JH. .Testing neonate-infant membrane oxygenators with the University of Texas neonatal pulsatile cardiopulmonary bypass system in vitro. Perfusion 1998 Sep;13(5):346-352. .
Rossbach MM, Johnson SB, Gomez MA, Sako EY, Miller OL, Calhoon JH. .Management of major tracheobronchial injuries: a 28-year experience. Ann Thorac Surg 1998 Jan;65(1):182-186. .
Pollard TR, Schwesinger WH, Sako EY, Sirinek KR. .Abdominal operations after lung transplantation. Indications and outcome. Arch Surg 1997 Jul;132(7):714-718..
Patterson TF, Peters J, Levine SM, Anzueto A, Bryan CL, Sako EY, Miller OL, Calhoon JH, Rinaldi MG. .Systemic availability of itraconazole in lung transplantation. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1996 Sep;40(9):2217-2220..
Sako EY, Miller OL, Calhoon JH..Lung donor selection, management, and preservation Seminars in Resp and Critical Care Medicine 1996 Mar;17:119-127..
Calhoon JH, Bunegin L, Gelineau JF, Felger MC, Naples JJ, Miller OL, Sako EY. .Twelve-hour canine heart preservation with a simple, portable hypothermic organ perfusion device. Ann Thorac Surg 1996;62(1):91-93..
Levine SM, Anzueto A, Peters JI, Cronin T, Sako EY, Jenkinson SG, Bryan CL..Medium term functional results of single-lung transplantation for endstage obstructive lung disease Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1994 Aug;150(2):398-402..
Kingsley PB, Sako EY, Yang MQ, Zimmer SD, Ugurbil K, Foker JE, From AH..Ischemic contracture begins when anaerobic glycolysis stops: a 31P-NMR study of isolated rat hearts. Am J Physiol 1991 Aug;261(2 Pt):469-478. .
Kingsley-Hickman PB, Sako EY, Ugurbil K, From AH, Foker JE. .31P NMR measurement of mitochondrial uncoupling in isolated rat hearts. J Biol Chem 1990 Jan;265(3):1545-1550..
Mahoney JR, Sako EY, Seymour KM, Marquardt CA, Foker JE..A comparison of different carbohydrates as substrates for the isolated working heart. J Surg Res 1989 Dec;47(6):530-534..
Sako EY, Kingsley-Hickman PB, From AH, Foker JE, Ugurbil K..ATP synthesis kinetics and mitochondrial function in the postischemic myocardium as studied by 31P NMR. J Biol Chem 1988 Aug;263(22):10600-10607..
Sako EY, Kingsley-Hickman PB, From AH, Ugurbil K, Foker JE..Substrate effects in the post-ischemic myocardium. J Surg Res 1988 Apr;44(4):430-435..
Ugurbil K, Kingsley-Hickman PB, Sako EY, Zimmer S, Mohanakrishnan P, Robitaille PM, Thoma WJ, Johnson A, Foker JE, From AH. .31P NMR studies of the kinetics and regulation of oxidative phosphorylation in the intact myocardium. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1987;508:265-286..
Kingsley-Hickman PB, Sako EY, Mohanakrishnan P, Robitaille PM, From AH, Foker JE, Ugurbil K. .31P NMR studies of ATP synthesis and hydrolysis kinetics in the intact myocardium. Biochemistry 1987 Nov;26(23):7501-7510. .
Sako EY, Kingsley-Hickman PB, St. Cyr JA, Andreone PG, Ugurbil K, Foker JE..Dobutamine increases efficiency of ATP utilization in the postischemic isolated heart Surg Forum 1986;37:236-238..

Double Lung Transplant: Albert's Story

June 8, 2023

Call 210-450-0999 to request an appointment with this doctor.

Back to Search

Patient reviews

Download Our Mobile App

Access health information, get turn-by-turn navigation in University Hospital, find a doctor or location, and more.

Learn more