Open Heart Surgery
Open-heart surgery may be done for many reasons, including to:
- Perform coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG)
- Repair or replace heart valves, which allow blood to travel through the heart
- Repair damaged or abnormal areas of the heart
- Implant medical devices that help the heart beat properly
What kinds of heart and blood vessel surgeries are there?
Coronary Artery Bypass
This is the most common kind of heart surgery, also called coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), coronary artery bypass (CAB), coronary bypass or bypass surgery.
The surgery involves using a healthy section of blood vessel from another part of the body to bypass a part of a diseased or blocked coronary artery. This creates a new route for blood to flow, so that the heart muscle will get the oxygen-rich blood it needs to work properly.
During bypass surgery, the breastbone (sternum) is divided, the heart is stopped and blood is sent through a heart-lung machine. Unlike other kinds of heart surgery, the chambers of the heart are not opened during bypass surgery.
The terms “single bypass,” “double bypass,” “triple bypass” or “quadruple bypass” refer to the number of arteries that are bypassed.
Aneurysm Repair
An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in a blood vessel or in the wall of the heart. An aneurysm occurs when the wall of a blood vessel or the heart becomes weakened. Pressure from the blood forces it to bulge outward, forming what you might think of as a blister. An aneurysm can often be repaired before it bursts.
Surgery involves replacing the weakened section of blood vessel or heart with a patch or artificial tube (called a graft).
Aneurysms in the wall of the heart occur most often in the lower-left chamber (called the left ventricle). These aneurysms are called left ventricular aneurysms, and they may develop after a heart attack, because a heart attack can weaken the wall of the left ventricle. If a left ventricular aneurysm leads to an irregular heartbeat or to heart failure, the surgeon may perform open heart surgery to remove the damaged part of the wall.
Carotid Endarterectomy
Carotid artery disease affects the vessels leading to the head and brain. Like the heart, the brain’s cells need a constant supply of oxygen-rich blood. This blood supply is delivered to the brain by the two large carotid arteries in the front of your neck and by two smaller vertebral arteries at the back of your neck. The right and left vertebral arteries come together at the base of the brain to form what is called the basilar artery. A stroke most often occurs when fatty plaque blocks the carotid arteries and the brain does not get enough oxygen.
Carotid endarterectomy is the most common surgical treatment for carotid artery disease. Surgeons make an incision at the location of the blockage in the neck and a tube is inserted above and below the blockage to reroute blood flow. Surgeons can then remove the fatty plaque.
A carotid endarterectomy can also be done by a technique that does not require blood flow to be rerouted. In this procedure, the surgeon stops the blood flow just long enough to peel the blockage away from the artery.