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Hiroshi Kagawa
( out of 31 reviews )

Hiroshi Kagawa, MD, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Location

Cardiovascular Center

Cardiovascular Center
50 N Medical Dr
Salt Lake City , UT 84132

Hiroshi Kagawa, MD joins the Division of Cardiothoracic surgery as a faculty member in the adult cardiac section.

Dr. Kagawa grew up in Tokyo, Japan and earned his medical degree from The Jikei University School of Medicine. He completed a General Surgery Residency at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo and a Cardiac Fellowship at the Jikei University in Tokyo. Dr. Kagawa then came to the US to pursue additional training. He completed a Research Fellowship at Stanford University, as well as Adult Cardiac Surgery Fellowships at Northwestern University and Emory University. He did additional training in Cardiothoracic Transplantation at University of Pittsburg Medical Center and remained on as faculty before joining the University of Utah.

Dr. Kagawa has a particular interest in the medical and surgical treatment of patients with end-stage heart and lung failure including acute and chronic mechanical circulatory support and thoracic transplantation. In his free time, Dr. Kagawa enjoys spending time with his daughters, playing tennis, and swimming.

Dr. Kagawa’s clinical interests include:

  • All aspects of adult cardiac surgery including coronary artery bypass surgery, valvular heart disease, and aortic disease
  • Mechanical circulatory support including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as well as short term and durable ventricular assist devices
  • Heart and lung transplantation

Dr. Kagawa’s research interests include:

  • Outcomes research in heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support
  • Analyses of current allocation and utilization of donor hearts
  • Novel devices and techniques in thoracic transplantation

Learn more about patient, Manny Arocha, and how Dr. Kagawa led the ECMO surgery team to help treat Manny after testing positive for COVID-19.

Board Certification

Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery
Japan Surgical Society

Patient Rating

4.8 /5
( out of 31 reviews )

The patient rating score is an average of all responses on our patient experience survey. The rating averages scores for all questions about care from our providers. The scale on which responses are measured is 1 to 5 with 5 being the best score.


2026-02-15
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Great doctor indeed.

2025-09-19
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

the best DR. I have ever had for my medical promblem, I would highly recommend him .

2025-09-17
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Very caring and explained things in a way I could understand.

2025-09-05
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

He is so kind and the highest in professionalism and skill as a heart surgeon.

2025-08-15
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Dr Kagawa is a great surgeon. He pays great attention to detail and I was very pleased with my results. I highly recommend him.

2025-06-28
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Dr. Kagawa was a pleasure to work with. Dr.Kagawa is very knowledgeable and does very well in articulating things in a manner at w which is understandable and leaves you with very little to clarify. I look forward to leaving another review after my successful surgery which IÕm sure will be the case!

2025-05-16
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Dr Kagawa is so professional and listens to patients concerns and addresses them. I was thankful to have him as my surgeon, and my results from surgery are great.

2025-04-05
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

I trusted Dr. Kagawa with my life and I am recovering well from my quadruple bypass surgery. I highly recommend him.

2025-03-29
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Very kind and professional.

2025-03-13
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Very professional, excellent physician

2025-01-15
UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL

Dr kagawa was a true professional

2024-12-12
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Great Doctor and his colleagues also same.

2024-11-08
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

He is very straight forward but to the point. I trust his judgement and respect his decisions.

2024-09-27
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Very knowledgeable and direct person

2024-07-19
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Real nice dr. He is professional and good at what he does. He is very good at explaining what is going on with your health.

2024-07-05
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Fantastic doctor and team!!!!

2024-05-03
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Very good Doctor. He saved my life!

2024-03-02
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

I highly recommend Dr. Kagawa. I believe he cares deeply for his patients. I trust his expertise and the recommendations he has given me to continue with my recovery.

2024-02-09
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Very knowledgeable and professional. I would recommend him to anyone.

2023-11-26
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

He seems knowledgable about my condition and what to do to take care of it.

2023-07-08
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Dr Kagawa was well informed, patient, and clear. He takes the time to answer all our questions.

2023-05-05
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

He is very professional and gave me quality care. My recovery has been great and I attribute a lot of it the the quality service I received during the surgery and followup care

2023-05-05
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Dr Kagawa is an angel on earth. Hes so caring and wonderful. So smart and concerned with my health and mental well being. Hes a rare find and I cherish his wisdom.

2023-04-08
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

He was interested in getting the information that he needed to make his decision

2023-03-24
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

He is an excellent doctor. He truly cares about you and takes the time needed to make you feel confident that you are getting the best care.

2022-12-24
UH HOSPITALS AND CLINICS

Dr. Kagawa is amazing surgeon and nice person. He is kind and friendly and his assistants are great also. I appreciate for providing me with excellent medical and physical care.


Patient comments are gathered from our patient experience survey and displayed in their entirety. For the convenience of our visitors, some patient comments have been translated from their original language into English while preserving their original meaning as accurately as possible. Patients are de-identified for confidentiality and patient privacy.

Hiroshi Kagawa, MD joins the Division of Cardiothoracic surgery as a faculty member in the adult cardiac section.

Dr. Kagawa grew up in Tokyo, Japan and earned his medical degree from The Jikei University School of Medicine. He completed a General Surgery Residency at St. Luke’s International Hospital in Tokyo and a Cardiac Fellowship at the Jikei University in Tokyo. Dr. Kagawa then came to the US to pursue additional training. He completed a Research Fellowship at Stanford University, as well as Adult Cardiac Surgery Fellowships at Northwestern University and Emory University. He did additional training in Cardiothoracic Transplantation at University of Pittsburg Medical Center and remained on as faculty before joining the University of Utah.

Dr. Kagawa has a particular interest in the medical and surgical treatment of patients with end-stage heart and lung failure including acute and chronic mechanical circulatory support and thoracic transplantation. In his free time, Dr. Kagawa enjoys spending time with his daughters, playing tennis, and swimming.

Dr. Kagawa’s clinical interests include:

  • All aspects of adult cardiac surgery including coronary artery bypass surgery, valvular heart disease, and aortic disease
  • Mechanical circulatory support including extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) as well as short term and durable ventricular assist devices
  • Heart and lung transplantation

Dr. Kagawa’s research interests include:

  • Outcomes research in heart transplantation and mechanical circulatory support
  • Analyses of current allocation and utilization of donor hearts
  • Novel devices and techniques in thoracic transplantation

Learn more about patient, Manny Arocha, and how Dr. Kagawa led the ECMO surgery team to help treat Manny after testing positive for COVID-19.

Board Certification and Academic Information

Academic Departments Surgery -Assistant Professor (Clinical)
Academic Divisions Cardiothoracic Surgery
Board Certification
Japanese Board of Cardiovascular Surgery
Japan Surgical Society

Education history

Professional Medical Medicine - The Jikei University School of Medicine M.D.
Professional Medical Scholarship Student - University of London, King¿s College London, Guy¿s, St.Thomas¿ Hospital, School of Medicine
Residency General Surgery - St. Luke¿s International Hospital Resident
Doctoral Training The Jikei University Graduate School of Medicine Ph.D.
Residency Cardiac Surgery - The Jikei University Kashiwa Hospital Resident
Research Fellow Pediatric Cardiac Surgery - Stanford University Research Fellow
Fellowship Adult Cardiac Surgery - Northwestern Memorial Hospital Fellow
Fellowship Adult Cardiac Surgery - Emory University School of Medicine Fellow
Fellowship Cardiothoracic Transplantation - University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Kagawa H, Aranda-Michel E, Kormos RL, Keebler M, Hickey G, Wang Y, Mathier M, Kilic A (2020). Aortic Insufficiency After Left Ventricular Assist Device Implantation: Predictors and Outcomes. Ann Thorac Surg, 110(3), 836-843.
  2. Kagawa H, Coyan G, Davis K, Kilic A, Hickey G, Kormos R, Mathier M, Phillips D, Sciortino C (2019). Severe Dizziness and Syncope After HeartMate 3 Implantation Requiring Pump Exchange. Ann Thorac Surg, 108(3), e149-e151.
  3. Sakamoto Y, Hashimoto K, Okuyama H, Takakura H, Ishii S, Taguchi S, Kagawa H (2006). Prevalence and avoidance of patient-prosthesis mismatch in aortic valve replacement in small adults. Ann Thorac Surg, 81(4), 1305-9.
  4. Kagawa H, Ramani R, Keebler M, Sciortino C (2020). Left ventricular assist device implant and subsequent orthotopic heart transplant after chronic type B aortic dissection. Eur J Cardiothorac Surg, 57(2), 404-405.
  5. Kilic A, Gleason TG, Kagawa H, Kilic A, Sultan I (2019). Institutional volume affects long-term survival following lung transplantation in the USA.(Epub ahead of print). Eur J Cardiothorac Surg.
  6. Fujii Y, Ferro G, Kagawa H, Centola L, Zhu L, Ferrier WT, Talken L, Riemer RK, Maeda K, Nasirov T, Hodges B, Amirriazi S, Lee E, Sheff D, May J, May R, Reinhartz O (2015). Is Continuous Flow Superior to Pulsatile Flow in Single Ventricle Mechanical Support? Results from a Large Animal Pilot Study. ASAIO J, 61(4), 443-7.
  7. Fujii Y, Pitsillides K, Ferro G, Kagawa H, Centola L, Kinouchi K, Zhu L, Ferrier WT, Talken L, Nasirov T, Riemer RK, Reinhartz O (2015). Hemodynamic monitoring of large animal chronic studies after median sternotomy: experiences with different telemetric physiological devices. ASAIO J, 61(3), 332-8.
  8. Sakamoto Y, Hashimoto K, Okuyama H, Ishii S, Taguchi S, Kagawa H, Morita K (2007). Repair of mitral periprosthetic leak secondary to severe annular calcification. J Heart Valve Dis, 16(2), 132-5.
  9. Sebastian VA, Ferro G, Kagawa H, Nasirov T, Maeda K, Ferrier WT, Takatani S, Riemer RK, Hanley FL, Reddy VM (2013). Fetal cardiac intervention: improved results of fetal cardiac bypass in immature fetuses using the TinyPump device. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 145(6), 1460-4.
  10. Kagawa H, Morita K, Nagahori R, Shinohara G, Kinouchi K, Hashimoto K (2010). Prevention of ischemia/reperfusion-induced pulmonary dysfunction after cardiopulmonary bypass with terminal leukocyte-depleted lung reperfusion. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 139(1), 174-80.
  11. Nakamura K, Kawahito K, Matsumura Y, Kagawa H, Hashimoto K (2012). [Severe intestinal ischemia due to chronic aortic dissection; report of a case]. Kyobu Geka, 65(2), 161-4.
  12. Ko Y, Morita K, Nagahori R, Kinouchi K, Shinohara G, Kagawa H, Hashimoto K (2009). Myocardial cyclic AMP augmentation with high-dose PDEIII inhibitor in terminal warm blood cardioplegia. Ann Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 15(5), 311-7.
  13. Sakamoto Y, Hashimoto K, Okuyama H, Ishii S, Taguchi S, Kagawa H, Yoshitake M (2006). Midterm results of mitral valve repair with the Carpentier-Edwards rigid ring. Jpn J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg, 54(2), 56-60.
  14. Genuardi MV, Kagawa H, Minervini M, Mathier MA, Sciortino C (2019). A Case Report of Cardiac Transplantation for Isolated Cardiomyopathy Associated With Propionic Acidemia. Prog Transplant, 29(4), 364-366.
  15. Sakamoto Y, Hashimoto K, Okuyama H, Ishii S, Shingo T, Kagawa H (2006). Prevalence of pannus formation after aortic valve replacement: clinical aspects and surgical management. J Artif Organs, 9(3), 199-202.
  16. Sultan I, Gleason TG, Kagawa H, Keebler M, Mathier M, Kormos RL, Kilic A (2019). The impact of centre volume on outcomes of orthotopic heart transplant in older recipients. Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg, 29(4), 576-582.
  17. Kagawa H, Morita K, Uno Y, Ko Y, Matsumura Y, Kinouchi K, Hashimoto K (2014). Inflammatory response to hyperoxemic and normoxemic cardiopulmonary bypass in acyanotic pediatric patients. World J Pediatr Congenit Heart Surg, 5(4), 541-5.

Case Report

  1. Kagawa H, Keebler ME, Hickey G, Sultan I, Kilic A (2020). Concomitant abdominal exploration with durable left ventricular assist device implantation. J Card Surg, 35(1), 214-216.