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.
Pericardial effusion, the collection of fluid around the heart, typically occurs in patients following heart surgery and is usually treated using an invasive surgical drainage technique. However researchers have discovered that a minimally invasive procedure called CT-guided tube pericardiostomy is just as effective - requiring no recovery time, fewer resources, and provides an 89 percent cost savings over the surgical drainage technique, according to a study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology (AJR).
Guided Delivery Systems, Inc. ("GDS") announced the first successful percutaneous implantation of the GDS Accucinch(R) System for mitral valve repair. The procedure was performed by Prof. Dr. med. Joachim Schofer of Medizinisches Versorgungszentrum, Hamburg University Cardiovascular Center in Hamburg, Germany. The GDS Accucinch System significantly reduced the patient's mitral regurgitation without requiring open heart surgery.
Among patients undergoing cardiac surgery, post-operative stroke occurred in approximately 2 percent, was not correlated with significant carotid artery narrowing, but was more common among patients who had combined cardiac and carotid procedures, according to a report in the September issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Abbott announced today a definitive agreement to acquire the outstanding equity of Evalve, Inc., the global leader in the development of devices for minimally invasive repair of cardiac mitral valves.
SyntheMed, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: SYMD), a biomaterials company engaged in the development and commercialization of anti-adhesion products, announced today that REPEL-CV, the company's bioresorbable adhesion barrier film for the reduction of adhesions following cardiac surgery, has received approval from the Brazilian Ministry of Health for use in all patients who undergo open-heart surgery.
DaVita Inc. (NYSE: DVA), a leading provider of kidney care services for those diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD), supports dialysis patients' education by offering individualized treatment options based on optimal patient care standards and social circumstances.
Health care reform efforts must confront a paradox, the Los Angeles Times reports: "Millions of Americans say the system they depend on for everything from routine flu shots to life-saving heart surgery is broken and needs fixing.
Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).
St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital is the first hospital in Houston to feature the CyberKnife((R)), a noninvasive alternative to surgery for the treatment of both cancerous and non-cancerous tumors.
Berlin Heart Inc. reported today that it has completed enrollment in Cohort 1 of the Berlin Heart EXCOR(R) Pediatric IDE Study after having received unconditional approval of the study from the FDA in November 2008.
For patients with established heart disease who were treated with a statin, 18 novel biomarkers including C-reactive protein (CRP) did not predict future cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke, according to results of an analysis presented today at the 2009 European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
On Tuesday, August 11, 2009, an 82-year old New Orleans resident with severe aortic stenosis successfully had a heart valve replaced at Ochsner Medical Center using the same technique as angioplasty, a far cry from the traditional open heart procedure. Patients who are considered high-risk or non-operable for conventional open heart valve surgery now have a potential new research option available regionally only through The John Ochsner Heart & Vascular Institute.
The need for blood never takes a vacation. Every two seconds, someone in our community needs blood. From premature infants to an organ transplant recipient who will typically require 40 units of blood to survive. And right now, the need is urgent. We are currently facing a shortage of Type 0 negative, the universal blood type that can be given to save the life of anyone, from premature infants and children having heart surgery to an organ transplant recipient who will typically require 40 units of blood to survive. Type B negative blood also is urgently needed.
Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts has joined a growing number of over 100 hospitals nationwide to add the RF Surgical Detection System to its surgical safety protocols. This patented and FDA-approved technology uses a scanning wand that detects and signals an alert if any radio frequency tagged surgical sponges remain in a patient following surgery
Physicians at The Mount Sinai Medical Center were the first in the country to perform a non-surgical procedure using sutures to tie off a left atrial appendage (LAA), which is the source of blood clots leading to stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib). AFib is the most common sustained heart-rhythm disorder in the United States.
In the most comprehensive and up-to-date review of its kind, researchers list possible nervous system complications of bypass surgeries, aortic surgery, cardiac catheterizations, valve replacements, heart transplants and surgeries for congenital heart disease and heart tumors.
Although open-heart surgery is a frequent treatment for heart disease, it remains extremely dangerous. Now groundbreaking research from Dr. Britta Hardy of Tel Aviv University's Sackler School of Medicine has shown the potential for an injected protein to regrow blood vessels in the human heart ― eliminating the need for risky surgery altogether.
Possible neurological complications of heart surgery, ranging from headaches to strokes, are detailed in a new report in the online journal MedLink Neurology.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, collaborating with pediatric cardiologists and surgeons at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, have developed a tool for virtual surgery that allows heart surgeons to view the predicted effects of different surgical approaches. By manipulating three-dimensional cardiac magnetic resonance images of a patient's specific anatomy, physicians can compare how alternative approaches affect blood flow and expected outcomes, and can select the best approach for each patient before entering the operating room.
Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, collaborating with pediatric cardiologists and surgeons at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, have developed a tool for virtual surgery that allows heart surgeons to view the predicted effects of different surgical approaches.
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