Heart Surgery News and Research

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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.

St. Luke's unveils Discovery IGS 730 Hybrid OR from GE Healthcare

St. Luke's University Hospital unveiled the Discovery IGS 730 Hybrid OR from GE Healthcare today, becoming the first hospital in the United States to offer this exciting new technology.

17 Nov 2012

Researchers develop catheter that can perform triple-duty during cardiac ablation surgery

Researchers at the McCormick School of Engineering are part of a team that has used stretchable electronics to create a multipurpose medical catheter that can both monitor heart functions and perform corrections on heart tissue during surgery.

16 Nov 2012

CHOP presents new findings on pediatric cardiovascular disease at AHA 2012

Physician-researchers from the Cardiac Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia presented new findings on pediatric cardiovascular disease at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012 in Los Angeles.

9 Nov 2012

Researchers discover cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in CF

Vancouver researchers have discovered the cellular pathway that causes lung-damaging inflammation in cystic fibrosis (CF), and that reducing the pathway's activity also decreases inflammation.

8 Nov 2012

Mass. adopts stricter rules, penalties for compounding pharmacies

The emergency regulations will allow the state to monitor contamination and the volume of medicines being made.

3 Nov 2012

Toilet training method not related to urinary accidents in children

Parents: stop worrying about which toilet training method to use - where urinary accidents in children are concerned, it doesn't matter. This clearly-stated message, published today in Clinical Pediatrics by physician researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, emphasizes that the method of training chosen by parents is not the cause of urinary accidents in children.

3 Nov 2012

FDA expands approved indication for Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today expanded the approved indication for the Sapien Transcatheter Heart Valve (THV) to include patients with aortic valve stenosis who are eligible for surgery, but who are at high risk for serious surgical complications or death.

20 Oct 2012

Morton Plant first hospital in the Tampa Bay area to perform transapical TAVR

Morton Plant Hospital is the first hospital in the Tampa Bay area to perform Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) by the transapical approach. Transapical TAVR is the latest FDA-approved treatment for people suffering from severe aortic stenosis.

20 Oct 2012

Additional drugs linked to meningitis outbreak

Food and Drug Administration officials said Monday that more people may be at risk as a result of contaminated drugs made by a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy.

17 Oct 2012

UK HealthCare's Gill Heart Institute cardiologists perform TAVR procedures

Interventional cardiologists at UK HealthCare's Gill Heart Institute have successfully performed the facility's first two transcatheter aortic valve replacements.

17 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 16, 2012

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including reports about a study regarding the possible impact of premium support on Medicare premiums.

16 Oct 2012

Duke researchers develop new 3-D tool for heart surgery

A team of researchers from Duke University speaking at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2012 annual meeting revealed the development of a new 3-D tool that enables trainees in transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) to have real-time instruction in obtaining and interpreting high-quality images of the heart and major vessels - and it's all just a finger swipe away on your Apple iPad.

15 Oct 2012

Truven Health Analytics names Banner Heart among 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

Banner Heart Hospital has been named one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, formerly the health care business of Thomson Reuters.

5 Oct 2012

Certificate of Need appears to do neither for heart bypass surgery

Certificate of Need, a form of state government regulation designed to keep mortality rates and health care costs down, appears to do neither for heart bypass surgery, according to a health economics researcher at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM).

4 Oct 2012

Anemia now confirmed as risk factor for illness and even death following cardiac surgery

Anemia is now confirmed as a risk factor for illness and even death following cardiac surgery, according to a study published in the October 2012 issue of The Annals of Thoracic Surgery.

2 Oct 2012

Hackensack University Medical Center announces joint venture with community physicians and USPI

Hackensack University Medical Center has announced a joint venture partnership with community physicians and United Surgical Partners International (USPI) in the acquisition and operation of two ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in Bergen County: Hackensack Endoscopy Center (HEC) and Endoscopy Center of Bergen County (ECBC).

29 Sep 2012

CBH first hospital in Central Kentucky to perform transcatheter aortic valve replacement

CBH is the first hospital in Central Kentucky to perform the transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedure. Four patients with diseased aortic heart valves who were deemed too sick to withstand conventional open-heart surgery to replace their valves have undergone this new heart valve replacement procedure at Central Baptist Hospital.

15 Sep 2012

Parents of infants with cystic fibrosis carriers more likely to receive genetic counseling

Parents of newborns with the sickle cell anemia trait were less likely to receive genetic counseling than parents whose babies are cystic fibrosis carriers, a new study from the University of Michigan shows.

12 Sep 2012

Blood flow simulation tools can test and optimize Berlin Heart design

Structural and mechanical engineers at the University of California, San Diego, are working together to create blood flow simulations that could lead to improvements in the design of a cardiac pump for children born with heart defects. They hope that the design changes will improve young patients' outcomes.

11 Sep 2012

Tight blood sugar control does not benefit pediatric patients undergoing heart surgery

Although some studies have portrayed tight blood sugar control as a potential means of lowering infection rates in critically ill adults, a new study-led by principal investigator Michael Agus, MD, director of the Medicine Critical Care Program at Boston Children's Hospital-found no indication that the approach benefits pediatric patients undergoing heart surgery.

10 Sep 2012