Dr. Daniel L. Miller

Dr. Miller is like a used car salesman, only believe half of what he says. Much of what he tells you about his bio-bar surgery is propaganda. The bars do not fully dissolve and are always in you, according to 2 separate thoracic surgeons seen in consult after this procedure.
At my 6 month check up he told me I was healing better that expected and my surgery was successful. You couldn't see some of the cartilage in the scan. When I asked him about it, he said it was there but we couldn't see it in this scan because on a different frequency. He assured me I was fine and when I complained of pain and movement in the ribcage, he said "it's just my body getting used to it's new shape." He never returned my call after that point. Turns out, my surgery was not successful, I did not regrow cartilage at all and have a floating sternum. I will now require another surgery to get titanium struts to hold me chest in place. My haller index is the same after surgery as it was before surgery.

When I found this site, and realized that my adult pectus could be corrected ( I was told it wasn't recommended in 2012) I watched the webinars on this site and had planned to go see Dr. Jaroszewsi at Mayo. However, I realized I had gone to high school with Dr. Notrica and reached out to him- he gave me the name of Dr. Daniel Miller who is 10 minutes from my house in Marietta, GA. I was able to get an appt. the following week, and he immediately validated my symptoms where previous doctors had repeatedly invalidated them. He looked at my CT scan from 2012 and could already tell I was a 3.9 or 4 for my Haller index. He ordered three tests, pulmonary function, ECG and updated CT scan, and we met again two weeks later. He told me he performs the 3rd most adult pectus repairs in the US, and Dr. Jaroszewski sends him referrals. Also, when the office staff was scheduling my surgery, she told me that people come from around the world to have him repair and correct former repairs. He did offer me either the Nuss or the Ravitch. I opted for the Ravitch because it is a one-time operation. Dr. Miller uses a plate made of biomaterials that dissolve as the body heals and cartilage regrows (no metal plates.) Everyone on his staff was so professional and courteous, I felt I was in great hands. I am 5 days post surgery, pain is being managed- I never got above a 6. He came to see me every day and had me up walking within 24 hours. He had a shield made that I will wear in public and when in cars for 6 weeks. They really thought of everything- I cannot recommend them highly enough.

Please do your research and reach out to former patients before using Dr. Miller. He is dishonest and unethical.
Summer of 2020 had all my records sent to Dr. Miller and he personally called and told me not only did I need a redo, but a chest wall expansion. Before surgery I reached out to several patients that he performed this procedure on and none of them were happy with their results. I told Dr. Miller what other patients were saying and I was skeptical, but he was reassuring that I would have a different result because I was going into this healthy and they had other issues.
Went through with the surgery and he reassured me that I had a lot more room and it was successful. I told Dr. Miller at my six month follow-up that my breathing was worse after surgery and my chest looked worse. He showed me on the CT scan my new HI 5.
He wanted to see me back at the one year mark with all new test. Things weren’t measuring up and at the one year mark I had new testing and got two other opinions and that’s when I learned the truth. I never needed a chest wall expansion and never met criteria for it. My new Dr told me that Dr. Miller’s CT scan wasn’t supporting a HI 5 and wasn’t taken down to the lowest level. Dr Miller lied. Went into surgery with a HI 7 and at the one year my HI 11. My ribs and sternum are floating and chest is unstable. I will need extensive surgery to fix his mess that he called successful.
A doctor from Cleveland clinic said, he has never seen anything like this and Dr. Miller has been dismissed from three different hospitals and is doing sloppy work. I encourage you to look up his medical license and see for yourself. He loses privileges from hospitals and a few months later shows up at a new one. I have no clue how Dr Miller still has a medical license. There’s a Facebook group with only his patients ( The Miller Experience ) and a lot of heartbreaking stories. All I can say is please do your research.

Very disappointed with my outcome. Before surgery my Haller was 7, two months after surgery Haller 11.7. Will be having surgery with a different doctor to repair what Dr. Miller did.

Had my consult with Dr. Miller today and I am very impressed. My story is complex as I had a Ravitch done when I was 16 years old and now have a mixed recurrence of Precuts Excavatum and Acquired Thoracic Syndrome (restriction of the chest wall and its volume after having a Ravitch at a younger age ). Both of these diagnosis caused restrictive lung disease and heart compression which would not allow my heart to pump effectively under stress.

I was struggling to find a surgeon who would evaluate me, let alone operate on me due it being a re-operation. My wife reached out to Dr. J who was not doing redo Pectus Excavatum surgery at this time (Thank You Dr. J for getting back to us). She did however recommend Dr. Miller and I can see why. He is very knowledgeable and familiar with the disease. He was able to identify or at least give his thoughts on why my previous surgery collapsed and how he would prevent it from occurring again. His explanation made complete sense from a structural stand point and he explained the use of his bio bridges. I was concerned about the bio bridges being strong enough as I am a big person (6'4"/230) but he did not seem concerned about my size and even said he has operated on bigger people.

He informed me I should arrive 1 day prior to surgery for an office visit and that I should plan on being in the hospital 5-7 days, then another 3 days in the area before I fly home. Typical follow up being at 1 month and 6 months.

I think what I am most impressed about is that Dr. Miller discussed what seemed to be an individualized plan for me which was very reassuring.

If you have Acquired Thoracic Syndrome (ATS) or recurrent Pectus Excavatum Dr. Miller is someone you should absolute consult with. I will post more after surgery to share my experience.