General Info

James Kauten, M.D. is a cardiac surgeon and program director of the Marcus Heart Valve Center. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Kauten is board certified by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Kauten has been practicing cardiothoracic surgery since 1986. He earned his medical degree from the University of Health Sciences of the Chicago Medical School in Illinois. He completed his residency at Southern Illinois School of Medicine from 1978 to 1983 and cardiac surgery fellowship at Emory University from 1983 to 1986. In 2011, he was awarded a Masters in Medical Informatics from Northwestern University. Dr. Kauten has been on medical staff at Piedmont Hospital since 1988. In his career, he has performed over 10,000 open heart surgical procedures and over 500 minimally invasive transcatheter procedures. He is an integral member of the Marcus Heart Valve Center's Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) team. His clinical interests include valvular replacement surgery, transcatheter procedures for all types of cardiac valves, aortic and aortic root replacement, and mitral repair. He is also very involved with cardiac revascularization (CABG) procedures. Dr. Kauten is principal investigator for multiple TAVR trials and an investigator for an aortic valve trial, among others. In his spare time, he enjoys travel, amateur radio (ham radio), bird hunting and competitive shooting.