Open Heart Surgery

When blood is unable to move through the heart and flow to the rest of the body as it should, damaged heart valves are a likely culprit. Heart valve procedures work to restore this ability and...

Valves are the tiny "doorways" that help blood move from the heart to the rest of the body. When heart valves malfunction, replacement surgery can be necessary if medications or other methods...

Heart valves that are severely damaged must be replaced with one of two types of artificial devices. The prognosis for each form of replacement varies. The mortality rate is also dependent on the...

People who can't sleep in a conventional bed have turned to recliners as a solution. The fact that doctors sometimes suggest recliners to patients and do not report health concerns indicates that...

During your recovery from cardiac surgery, both in the hospital and after your discharge, a special diet promotes healing and heart health. Your doctor will prescribe your dietary restrictions. As...

Valve replacement surgery is performed when one of the four heart valves is damaged. Heart valves play a central part in blood flow through the heart, opening to allow blood to flow out through...

A heart bypass is a medical surgical procedure to address vein blockages to continue normal supply of blood to all parts of the body. If these blockages are not addressed, vital organs may cease...

While it might at first seem frightening, the procedure to implant a pacemaker is quick and relatively easy to recover from. The patient is put to sleep while the doctor puts the pacemaker in and...

A typical human heart is a bit larger than your fist and weighs anywhere from a half-pound to a full pound. The arteries of the human heart, in conjunction with the capillaries of the heart, are...

Heart bypass procedures, also known as coronary artery bypass surgeries or coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs), allow your surgeon to create another pathway around obstructed coronary arteries...

Cardiac catheterization is a medical procedure that provides an inside look at the functioning of the heart and the coronary arteries that supply it. The procedure provides an invaluable...

Heart transplantation proceeded from the development of cardiosurgery as well as the success of other organ transplants. The patients who underwent the first heart transplants had a high fatality...

The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) reports that more than 500,000 surgeries are done each year in the United States to repair the damage from cardiac disease or other...

Aortic valve replacement is a surgical procedure used to repair dangerous malfunctions in the heart's largest valve. The most common reason for aortic replacement in the U.S. is stenosis, or...

The heart has four valves: the tricuspid, aortic, mitral and the pulmonary (or pulmonic). Valves regulate blood flow between the four chambers of the heart, and between the heart and the aorta and...

The Ross procedure is an advanced form of aortic valve replacement performed in the U.S. since the 1980s. It is essentially two surgeries in one, combining aortic replacement with secondary...

A pacemaker is a small electrical device that is implanted in the body to correct abnormal heart rhythms. Electrical impulses provide a slight electrical charge to jolt the heart back into rhythm....

Anytime a patient undergoes cardiac treatment or surgery, the patient's doctor will likely recommend dietary changes. Preparing for heart surgery may mean the patient is asked to change his diet...

A persantine radionuclide test is a cardiac diagnostic test. It is usually administered to patients who cannot exercise who may have heart problems. Normally, when testing for heart problems or...

Undergoing any type of surgery can be frightening. There are many variables and unknown factors that can cause patients to worry about the procedure. Heart surgery is a very extensive process and...

Bypass surgery is a procedure in which surgeons take a vein from another part of the body---typically the chest, leg or arm---and use it to bypass a vein or artery in the heart that has become...

Heart bypass surgery is quite successful in the U.S. today. Individual patients' recovery time varies from 6 weeks to 6 months, following specific guidelines designed for them by their doctor....

A heart bypass, also called a coronary bypass, is a surgery which allows blood to flow to the heart even though arteries are blocked. This procedure is done to correct some of the problems of...

The heart has four sections and four valves. The right and left upper chambers are called the atrium, while the right and left bottom chambers are called ventricles. The valves are located between...

A triple bypass surgery is when a surgeon replaces three clogged coronary arteries with either artificial or donated ones. Arteries are tubes in your body that carry oxygenated blood to your...

Open-heart surgery is any cardiac surgery where the chest is opened and the heart exposed during surgery. The heart itself may or may not be opened, depending on the specific procedure being...

It's a fact of life that, no matter what your medical condition, your treatment options are going to be limited by what your insurance provider will cover. It's important when diagnosed with an...

Are you anxious to know about how much time an open-heart surgery takes? It depends upon the condition of the heart as well as on the overall medical status of the patient. Follow these steps to...

Open-heart surgery is usually performed to fix congenital heart defects, to replace a defective valve, or to bypass blood supply around the blocked heart arteries. It's a major operation. You need...

Choosing an open-heart surgeon is a major decision. Surgeons differ in quality, experience and services, so choose your surgeon cautiously and only after doing thorough research. Here are some...

Open-heart surgeries are performed by experts, but you may wonder whether the surgery will have long-lasting benefits. Here’s how to know.

Whereas standard open heart surgery involves an 8- to 10-inch incision through the length of the breastbone, newer techniques are less invasive and may only require a 2- to 4-inch incision....

Bypass surgery has been around for more than 30 years. Improved techniques have reduced the mortality rates to relatively low levels of 1% to 2%, and major complications are rare. But open-heart...