Heart surgery is done to correct problems with the heart. More than half a million heart surgeries are done each year in the United States for a variety of heart problems. Heart surgery is used to correct heart problems in children and adults. This article discusses heart surgeries for adults. For more information about heart surgeries for children, see the Diseases and Conditions Index articles on congenital heart defects, holes in the heart, and tetralogy of Fallot.
The most common type of heart surgery for adults is coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). During CABG, surgeons use healthy arteries or veins taken from another part of the body to bypass (that is, go around) blocked arteries. CABG relieves chest pain and reduces the risk of heart attack.
Scientists from the Universities of Michigan and Minnesota show in a research report published online in the FASEB Journal (http://www.fasebj.org) that gene therapy may be used to improve an ailing heart's ability to contract properly. In addition to showing gene therapy's potential for reversing the course of heart failure, it also offers a tantalizing glimpse of a day when "closed heart surgery" via gene therapy is as commonly prescribed as today's cocktail of drugs.
Methodist Hospital of Arcadia, California, has launched an integrated deployment of innovative health care information technology (HIT) solutions designed to help improve the quality of patient care and deliver operational efficiencies. MedPlus®, the health care information technology subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics Incorporated (NYSE: DGX), provided the integrated solution to help Methodist reduce the length of stay associated with patients and help realize gains in efficiency and revenue.
Cardiac experts at Rush University Medical Center are studying a new, minimally invasive procedure to treat leaky heart valves. Instead of open heart surgery, patients will undergo a less complex catheter-based procedure to treat mitral regurgitation, a serious heart disorder where blood leaks backwards toward the lungs with each heart beat.
Bioheart, Inc. offers yet another medical breakthrough with the next-level stem cell treatment for cardiac patients. The stem cells aid in limiting damage due to a cardiac event and promote angiogenesis or formation of new blood vessels.
A new ad from a liberal group attacks Sen. Max Baucus' position on the public option. Meanwhile, some former lawmakers want to tone down the rhetoric in the debate.
Surgical treatment for mitral valve disease includes either repairing the patient's diseased valve or replacing it with a metal, mechanical valve or an animal tissue valve. The majority of those procedures are open-heart operations that require a major incision in the chest. Now, after a six-year study, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore conclude that minimally invasive mitral valve repair techniques, through only a two-inch incision in the right side of the chest, are safe, durable and effective. The results are published in the September 2009 Annals of Surgery.
The underinsured are continuing their struggle to keep up with piling medical bills, and are seeking care at federally funded clinics in greater-than-ever numbers, but some choose to remain uninsured.
Transcatheter heart valve company CardiAQ Valve Technologies (CVT), which is developing the world’s first self-conforming and self-anchoring technology for Transcatheter Mitral Valve Implantation (TMVI), announced today that successful results of an acute in vivo study of its TMVI system were disclosed by Dr. Joseph Bavaria during the “Mitral Valve Therapies Prior to and in Human Investigation” program at the “Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009” annual scientific meeting on Friday.
MAQUET Cardiovascular announced today that Johannes Bonatti, M.D., Professor of Surgery and Director of Coronary Surgery and Advanced Coronary Interventions at the University of Maryland Heart Center in Baltimore, has completed the world's first use of the MAQUET Minimized ExtraCorporeal Circulation (MECC) system during a successful robotic and fully endoscopic heart surgery. The new cardiopulmonary bypass technology is the first major advancement in perfusion technology in the last decade. It is designed to minimize the effects of traditional heart surgery and aid in minimally-invasive heart surgery without the need to stop the patient's heart from beating.
Mardil, Inc. today announced positive interim data from a pilot study investigating the safety and efficacy of its novel cardiac device - BACE (Basal Annuloplasty of the Cardia Externally) -- in treating mitral valve regurgitation. The condition arises when the heart's mitral valve leaks blood backward into the heart, causing a range of severe and debilitating symptoms.
Stereotaxis, Inc. is showcasing the value of its technologies for interventional procedures at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) symposium in San Francisco this week.
AmeriChoice of Pennsylvania and Chester County Hospital have announced an agreement that will provide AmeriChoice Medicaid members access to the hospital’s inpatient and outpatient facilities.
EDIMS LLC, a leading provider of interoperable emergency department (ED) information management systems for hospitals, announced today that LibertyHealth, a two-hospital health system in northern New Jersey, has launched EDIMS’ nursing documentation and charge capture systems to help improve care quality and streamline operations.
With the promise of percutaneous treatments for patients with diseased heart valves growing, Medtronic, Inc., announced today that more presentations than ever before – at least 25 – on the company’s portfolio of unique transcatheter valves will be presented at Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) 2009, the world’s premier annual meeting for interventional cardiologists.
The October issue of the journal Anesthesiology contains a study reviewing potential adverse effects associated with the timing of a patient's heart surgery; but based on this study, there is no bad time of the day or week or year to have elective coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
A new method for performing cardiac catheterizations may be more comfortable, shows a lower chance of complications such as severe bleeding, and allows patients to be discharged more quickly, potentially saving money, the Washington Post reports.
Sequoia Hospital announced today that they are one of only two hospital participant abstracts selected for oral presentation at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Advances in Outcomes and Quality national conference held this week in San Diego, California. "Separated Cerebral and Corporeal Perfusion Reduces Stroke Risk in Cardiac Surgery Patients with Mobile Aortic Atheromata" will be presented by Audrey Fisher, MPH, Sequoia Hospital Manager of Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes. This new technique was developed to reduce strokes in cardiac surgery patients by isolating blood flow to the brain during cardiopulmonary bypass.
CryoLife, Inc.- Elite cardiovascular surgeons from around the world will travel to suburban Atlanta this week for the two-day Ross Summit to review and discuss current peer-reviewed data relating to the survival advantage of the Ross Procedure and to practice the technical nuances required to perform this heart surgery successfully.
Doctor Manuel Leal is managing the Experimental Immune Virology Laboratory (in Virgen del Rocío University Hospital and Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBIS), where clinic and basic science researchers work) where he leads a project to establish the functional nature of the thymus gland in adults. So far, it has been proven that this gland keeps on producing lymphocytes in the old age (Ferrando-Martínez et al. AGE, in press), which is a novelty because until very recently it was considered that this organ lost its immune capacity after the puberty.
Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York became the first in the U.S. to ablate atrial fibrillation using a visually-guided laser balloon catheter.
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