- Adrenal gland disease
- Adrenal gland tumor
- Goiter
- Graves' disease
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Hyperthyroidism
- Lymph nodes in the neck
- Parathyroid cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Thyroid nodule
- Adrenalectomy
- Thyroid biopsy
- Thyroidectomy
Heather Wachtel, MD, FACS
Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery
Accepting new patients
Sees patients age 18 and up
Penn Endocrine and Oncologic Surgery Perelman 3rd Floor
Penn Medicine Provider
About me
- Chief, Section of Endocrine Surgery
- Co-Director, Endocrine Disease Team
- Associate Program Director, Penn General Surgery Residency Program
- Physician Liason, Abramson Cancer Center
- Fellow, American College of Surgeons
- Associate Professor of Surgery at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Wachtel’s clinical practice specializes in thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal surgery. Dr. Wachtel is a board-certified surgeon and the co-Director of the Endocrine Disease Team of the Penn Medicine Abramson Cancer Center. She is one of the only providers in the region offering retroperitoneoscopic adrenalectomy, which is a minimally invasive adrenalectomy from a retroperitoneal approach. Dr. Wachtel also performs minimally invasive transabdominal adrenalectomy using robotic and laparoscopic techniques.
My education and training
- Medical School: Yale University School of Medicine
- Residency: University of Pennsylvania Health System
- Fellowship: Massachusetts General Hospital
Spoken languages
English
English
Reviews
569 reviews
Comments are submitted by patients and reflect their views and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Penn Medicine.
Insurance accepted
Please contact the practice and/or the member services department of your insurance company for specific details before receiving services. Providers may participate in some, but not all, products offered by a health plan; providers may also accept plans at some practice locations but not others.
- Aetna Advantra Cares D-SNP
- Aetna Advantra Credit Value
- Aetna Advantra Eagle HMO
- Aetna Advantra Eagle POS
- Aetna Advantra Premier Plus PPO
- Aetna Advantra Value
- Aetna Advantra Value Plus
- Aetna APCN Plus (Multi-Tier)
- Aetna Better Health Kids (CHIP) - DH Only
- Aetna Flexible Five
- Aetna Freedom Core
- Aetna Gold
- Aetna HMO
- Aetna Philly Prime
- Aetna POS
- Aetna PPO APCN
- Aetna Premier
- Aetna Premier Plus
- Aetna Savings Plus
- Aetna Signature Administrators
- Aetna Student Health Plan PPO
- Aetna Upfront Advantage
- First Health HMO
- First Health POS
- First Health PPO
- Meritain - Aramark (Other)
- Meritain - Aramark (Pennsylvania Premier Medical Plan)
- Centivo EPO
- Cigna Healthcare EPO
- Cigna Healthcare HMO
- Cigna Healthcare POS
- Cigna Healthcare PPO
- Claim Watcher (Homestead/ INDECs) Open Access
- Clover Health Choice
- Clover Health Choice Value PPO
- Clover Health Classic HMO
- Clover Health Value
- Devoted Health Choice Giveback Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Choice Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Choice Plus Pennsylvania (PPO)
- Devoted Health Core Pennsylvania (HMO)
- Devoted Health Dual Plus Pennsylvania (HMO D-SNP)
- Devoted Health Giveback Pennsylvania (HMO)
Locations
Penn Medicine hospital privileges
- Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
- Penn Presbyterian Medical Center: Has privileges to treat patients in the hospital.
Qualifications and experience
- Surgery, 2016
- American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, National
- American College of Surgeons, National
- American Medical Association, National
- Association for Academic Surgery, National
- Association of Program Directors in Surgery, National
- Association of Women Surgeons, International
- International Association of Endocrine Surgeons, International
- North American Tumor Society, International
- Society of Asian Academic Surgeons, International
- Society of Surgical Oncology, National
- Society of University Surgeons, National
- Penn Center for Head and Neck Cancer
- Penn Neuroendocrine Tumor Program
- Penn Thyroid and Parathyroid Cancer Program
Treatments and conditions
Research
Publications
Passman JE, Bader A, Mahmud N, Dumon KR, Wachtel H, Zheng F, Cohen JB. The Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Hypertension Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study , J Hum Hypertens: 2025
Mimouni E, Passman JE, Alexis M, Ginzberg SP, Fraker D, Kelz R, Wachtel H. A Clinical Risk Score for Thyroid Hormone Therapy After Partial Thyroidectomy , J Surg Res, 314: 2025,169-175
van Rooyen D, Bandulik S, Coon GA, Laukemper M, Kumar-Sinha C, Udager AM, Lerario AM, Lee C, Wachtel H, Cohen DL, Luther JM, Giordano TJ, Scholl UI, Butz F, Popp B, Turcu AF, Warth R, Rainey WE, Rege J. Somatic Mutations in MCOLN3 Are Associated With Aldosterone-Producing Adenomas , Hypertension: 2025
Hu AC, Passman JE, Wachtel H. Adrenal Pseudocyst Masquerading as Adrenocortical Carcinoma , Clin Med Insights Endocrinol Diabetes, 18: 2025,11795514251345267
Hu Y, Krumeich LN, Fisher SB, Javid M, Kuo JH, Wachtel H. Ablative Therapies in Low-Risk Thyroid Cancer , Ann Surg Oncol: 2025
Hu AC, Passman JE, Baloch Z, Wachtel H. Adrenalectomy Leading to Early Diagnosis of ALECT2 Amyloidosis , Sage Open Pathol, 18: 2025,30502098251331780
Passman JE, Kallan MJ, Roberson JL, Ginzberg SP, Amjad W, Soegaard Ballester JM, Tortorello G, Fraker D, Karakousis GC, Bartlett EK, Wachtel H. Contemporary trends in utilization of metastasectomy in the era of targeted and immunotherapies , Cancer, 131: 2025,e35664
Passman JE, Hwang J, Tang J, Fagen M, Epps M, Peifer M, Howell JT, Cohen JB, Delgado MK, Wachtel H, Herman DS. Active Choice Nudge to Increase Screening for Primary Aldosteronism in At-Risk Patients , J Am Coll Surg, 240: 2025,46-59
Owei L, Wachtel H. The Landmark Series: Evaluation and Management of Adrenal Incidentalomas , Ann Surg Oncol: 2025
Rosenthal JW, Finn CB, Hwang J, Sharpe JE, Williams ST, Krumeich LN, Fraker DL, Wachtel H, Kelz RR. Trends in use of outpatient minimally-invasive adrenalectomy: A population-based analysis , Am J Surg: 2025