Dr Agasthian T

Dr Agasthian is a general thoracic surgeon who specialises in treating various lung diseases, especially lung cancer. He was the lead surgeon for the first lung transplant carried out in Singapore in 2000. Dr Agasthian currently practises in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore.

He pursued his specialisation in general thoracic surgery as a general thoracic fellow in the Division of General Thoracic Surgery of Mayo Clinic, as well as Thoracic Surgery and Transplantation of Cleveland Clinic. Upon his return to Singapore, Dr Agasthian was appointed as a senior consultant at National Cancer Centre Singapore. He has since been appointed as visiting consultant to National Heart Centre, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Changi General Hospital, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Just prior to his current private practice at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, he was also the head of the Division of Surgical Oncology at the National Cancer Institute of Singapore.

Education is very important to Dr Agasthian. He developed thoracic surgery as a specialty in Singapore, and has trained a majority of thoracic surgeons in Singapore. He was responsible for setting up thoracic surgery services in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National Cancer Center, National Heart Center and also pediatric thoracic surgery in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital. Since 1996, Dr Agasthian has trained all advanced cardiothoracic trainees in Singapore. He also set up a regional centre of excellence for the advanced thoracic training of doctors and fellows from the region, including India, Pakistan, China and Malaysia.

Dr Agasthian is a member of the Singapore Thoracic Society and the Asian Surgical Society. He is also an advisor and founding board member of the Asian Thoracoscopic Surgery Education Program. He is the assistant editor for the Journal of Thoracic Diseases, and also acts as a reviewer for the European Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Asian Annals of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, Annals of Medicine Singapore and Singapore Medical Journal. He has published more than 50 papers in academic journals, and has been invited as a speaker for many workshops and seminars in the region and worldwide.

Dr Agasthian specialises in non-cardiac general thoracic surgery. Procedures that he perform include surgery for benign and malignant lung, pleural and mediastinal diseases, minimally invasive thoracic surgery (VATS), pulmonary metastatectomy, esophageal surgery for benign and malignant cancers, tracheal and air way surgery for cancers and benign strictures, lung transplantation, and robotic thoracic surgery for thymectomy and tumours.