Dr. Johnson received his medical degree in 1987 from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is Board Certified in Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, and Thoracic Surgery. Dr. Johnson joined us in 1995, and is currently the chief of the division of general thoracic surgery and the surgical director of the lung transplant program. His current interests include complex foregut and esophageal resection/reconstruction, lung transplantation, complex bronchopulmonary resection/reconstruction, and tracheal surgery.
Board Certifications
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Surgical Critical care
General Surgery
Education:
MD, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, 1987
BS, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 1983
Postgraduate training:
Residency in Thoracic Surgery, UTHSCSA, Thoracic Surgery, 1993-1995
Fellowship in Esophageal/Critical Care, University of S. California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 1992-1993
Residency in Gen. Surgery, Los Angeles County University of S. California, Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1988-1992
Internship in Gen. Surgery, Los Angeles County University of S. California, Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1987-1988
Clinical interests
Current interests include: performing complex esophageal resections and reconstructions for both benign and malignant (cancer) disease; correcting previously failed anti-reflux surgery; esophageal stenting for both benign and malignant disease; treating difficult postoperative complications; performing complex pulmonary surgery for both benign and malignant disease; lung transplantation.
Publications
Ruchir Puri, MD, Adam M. Cline, MD, MS, Daniel T DeArmond, MD, and Scott B. Johnson, MD. Transthoracic Repair of Slipped Nissen Fundoplications: Technique and Results Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2012; 94: 429-35 2012 Feb;94(2):429-435.
Watts AB, Cline AM, Saad AR, Johnson SB, Peters JI, Williams RO. Characterization and pharmacokinetic analysis of tacrolimus dispersion for nebulization in a lung transplanted rodent model Int J Pharm 2010 Jan;384(1-2):46-52. DeArmond DT, Cline AM, Johnson SB. Anastomotic Leak Detection By Electrolyte Electrical Resistance Journal of Investigative Surgery 2009 Dec;.
Angel LF, Levine D, Abboud-Werner S, Pollack M, Coalson M, Levine S, Peters J, Johnson J, Calhoon J. The presence of HLA-Class II-DQ donor specific antibodies (DSA) in lung transplant recipients (LTR) even in the absence of other DSA and C4d staining is associated with severe histophathological changes and impaired graft survival. Chest Annual Meeting P Chest Annual Meeting Program Book 2009 Jan;.
Johnson SB. Tracheobronchial Injury Semin Thorac Cardiovas Surg 2008 Jan;20(1):52-57.
Johnson SB. Esophageal Trauma Semin Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2008 Jan;20(1):46-51.
Johnson SB, Ellertson, DG. Total Inflow Occlusion to Repair A Penetrating Cardiac Injury The Journal of Trauma 2008 Jan;64(6).
Johnson, Scott B. MD. Operative Approaches for Traumatic Thoracic Aortic Injury: Immediate Versus Delayed Therapy. The Journal of Trauma: Injury, Infection, and Critical Care: Vol62(6) Supplement – June 2007pp S24-S25
Angel LF, Levine DJ, Restrepo MI, Johnson S, Sako E, Carpenter AJ, Calhoon J, Cornell JE, Adams SG, Chisholm GB, Nespral J, Roberson A, Levine SM. Impact of a lung transplantation donor-management protocol on lung donation and recipient outcomes. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Vol.174, 2006.
Editorial | Article – Reuters Health Info
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 Thoracic Surg, 2006; 82:460-4. Presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Southern Surgical Assn, Orlando, FL, Nov 10-12, 2005.
Calhoon J, Angel LF, Martinez D, Johnson SB. Invited commentary. Annals of Thoracic Surgery 2005 Jun;79(6):1878-1878.
Johnson SB, Ellertson, DG. Total Inflow Occlusion to Repair A Penetrating Cardiac Injury The Journal of Trauma 2005
Johnson SB, Calhoon JH. Pulmonary Injury In: Current Therapy in Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, 1st Edition. Mosby-Year Book Inc.; 2004.
Levine DJ, Angel LF, Sako EY, Johnson SB, Calhoon JH, Levine SM. Similar outcomes with the use of extended donors in lung transplantation 2003 Oct. (Proceedings of the Chest 2003 Annual Meeting).
Barnes JL, Johnson SB, Dahiya RS, Temes RT, HERMAN TS, Thomas CR. Concomitant weekly cisplatin and thoracic radiotherapy for Pancoast tumors of the lung: pilot experience of the San Antonio Cancer Institute. American Journal of Clinical Oncology 2002 Feb;25(1):90-92.
Johnson SB, Eng TY, Giaccone G, Thomas CR. Thymoma: Update for the New Millennium. The Oncologist 2001 Jun;6(3):239-246.
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 Transplant Infect Dis 2000 Mar;2(1):22-28.
Book Chapters
Johnson SB. Commentaries on Esophageal Perforation. In: Brower,ST, Cohn,SM. Surgery Evidence – Based Practice. Shelton, CT: Peoples Medical Publishing House – USA; 2012. p. 34-35.
Johnson SB. Thoracic & Cardiac Trauma. In: Scott S. Johnson & John G. Myers. Irwin & Rippes Intensive Care Medicine. Pennsylvania: Richard S. Irwin & James M. Rippe; 2012.
Johnson SB and Saad AR. Esophageal Reconstruction by Joseph B. Zwischenberger. In: CM Townsend and BM Evers, Series Editors. Atlas of Thoracic Surgical Techniques. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders; 2011.
Johnson SB, Myers JG. Thoracic Trauma. In: Richard S. Irwin, M.D. and James M. Rippe, M.D. Irwin and Rippes Intensive Care Medicine. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer|Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2008.
Abstract
Levine DJ, Coalson JJ, Pollack MS, Werner S, Babu RV, Levine SM, Johnson SB, Peters JI, Calhoon JH, De Armond DT, Angel LF. Detection of HLA-II-DQ donor-specific antibody (DSA) in lung transplant recipients (LTRS) is associated with severe histopathologic changes and impaired graft survival even in the absence of other DSAS and positive C4D-immunostaining; 2009 Oct. (Chest Meeting Abstracts).
Sanchez J, Angel LF, Levine DJ, Calhoon JH, Levine SM, Johnson SB, Mortensen EM, Anzueto AR, Restrepo MI. Sepsis Due To Pneumonia Is Associated With Higher Mortality In Lung Transplant Recipients; 2008 Oct. (CHEST; vol. 134).
Levine DJ, Pollack MS, Coalson JJ, Johnson SB, Calhoon JH, Levine SM, Angel LF, Werner S. A Multifaceted Approach to Detect Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Lung Transplant Recipients; 2008 Oct. (CHEST; vol. 134, no. 4).
Saad AR, Cline AM, Watts AB, Hsiung GE, Peters JI, Baisden CE, Levine DJ, Calhoon JH, Angel LF, Williams III R, Johnson SB. Nanoparticle tacrolimus inhalation in rat lung transplant model; 2008 Oct. (CHEST; vol. 134, no. 4).
Sanchez J, Angel LF, Levine DJ, Levine SM, Calhoon JH, Johnson SB, Duran P, Mortensen EM, Anzueto AR, Restrepo MI. Health Care-Associated Pneumonia (HCAP) Have Similar Mortality Rates Compared to Hospital-Acquired (HAP) and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (VAP) in Lung Transplant Recipients; 2008 Oct. (CHEST; vol. 132, no. 4).
Sanchez J, Angel LF, Levine DJ, Johnson SB, Michalek JE, Zarzabal LA, Sako E, Pelaez A, Mehta A, Calhoon J, Levine SM, Lyu D. Using Post-Lung Transplant FEV1 To Predict Survival in COPD Patients Undergoing Single Lung Transplantation (SLT); 2007 Oct. (CHEST; vol. 132, no. 4).
In the News
Two Texas men breathing easier with simultaneous dual lung transplant at University Hospital: In March 2008, Dr. Scott Johnson, head of Thoracic Surgery, and Dr. Luis Angel, assistant professor of pulmonary diseases, performed the life-changing surgery for Kevin King and Kenny Deison. The dual operation marked the 300th lung transplant of the Lung Transplantation Program. More about the Lung Transplant Program (6-18-08)
Anti-rejection nanotherapy shows promise in rodent lung transplant model: Rejection can lead to failure of transplanted lungs. Scott Johnson, MD, Cardiothoracic Surgery, is one of many participants in a new study testing nanoparticle aerosol therapy to prevent post-transplant rejection, in the hopes that aerosol therapy will more directly target the lungs than traditional high-dose medications. View KENS-5 video | HSC press release (3-6-08)
Dr. Scott Johnson interviewed on KENS-5: Local scientists testing lung transplant drug on rats. Each year 1,500 American lives are saved by lung transplants but there is a high rate of rejection. Now, some scientists are trying to find a better way …. (3-12-08)
Dr. Scott Johnson, Chief of General Thoracic Surgery, interviewed by Jim Forsyth, WOAI-1200 News – Cancer of the Esophagus is an Alarming Threat: The death of former Gov. Ann Richards from esophageal cancer is bringing more attention to this rising cancer killer.
Health Science Center surgeon urges early detection for throat cancer (San Antonio Business Journal): Reflux disease can be an early warning sign for esophageal cancer, according to Scott Johnson, MD, associate professor of surgery.
Dr. Scott Johnson, Chief of General Thoracic Surgery, talks with KENS-5’s Wendy Rigby about long-term antacid use masking esophageal adenocarcinoma. Worldwide in the past 25 years, incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma has increased 350 percent faster than other forms of cancer.
Awards
Nominated for Socrates Award (STS), 2013
San Antonio Cystic Fibrosis Gala Medical Honoree, 2012
Texas San Antonio and Castle Connolly, National Top Doctors (Top 1%), 2012
Texas Super Doctors, Voted as one of the Texas Super Doctors by Texas Monthly Magazine. To be listed in the December 2005 issue., 2005
Best Doctors in America, Selected by peers, 2005
Best Presentation by a New Member of the Texas Surgical Society, 2004
Best Doctors in America, Selected by peers, 2003
“Outstanding Achievement for the Resident Teacher of the Year Award”, Honorable Mention, 2001
Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, Presented by the graduating class of 2000, 2000
Professional societies
Texas Surgical Society
American College of Surgeons
Southern Thoracic Surgical Association
Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Texas Transplantation Society
J. Bradley Aust Surgical Society-Fellowship
Society of Graduate Surgeons for the Los Angeles County
International Society of Hearts’ Lung Transplantation