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What minimally invasive heart surgeries are available?


What is minimally invasive heart surgery?

Minimally invasive coronary artery coronary artery
n.
1. An artery with origin in the right aortic sinus; with distribution to the right side of the heart in the coronary sulcus, and with branches to the right atrium and ventricle, including the atrioventricular branches and
 surgery is also called limited access coronary artery surgery. It's being evaluated in several medical centers as an alternative to the standard methods for coronary artery bypass graft surgery Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Definition

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery is a surgical procedure in which one or more blocked coronary arteries are bypassed by a blood vessel graft to restore normal blood flow to the heart.
 (CABG CABG coronary artery bypass graft.

CABG
abbr.
coronary artery bypass graft


CABG Coronary artery bypass graft, see there
). Like CABG, the surgery is done to reroute, or "bypass," blood around arteries clogged by fatty buildups of plaque and improve the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart.

Two approaches are commonly used:

* Port-access coronary artery bypass Coronary artery bypass
Surgical procedure to reroute blood around a blocked coronary artery.

Mentioned in: Heart Failure

coronary artery bypass,
n
 (also referred to as PACAB PACAB Port-Access Coronary Artery Bypass  or PortCAB)

* Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass (also called MIDCAB MIDCAB Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass Cardiology Minimally invasive heart surgery in which coronary bypass–usually with a single graft is performed on a blood-filled beating heart without a heart-lung machine via a small incision in the )

What is port-access coronary artery bypass (PACAB or PortCAB)?

In PACAB, your heart is stopped and your blood is pumped through an oxygenator oxygenator

an apparatus by which oxygen is introduced into the blood during circulation outside the body, as during open-heart surgery. See also extracorporeal circulatory support unit.
 or "heart-lung" machine to receive oxygen during the surgery. This is called "cardiopulmonary bypass." Then small incisions ("ports") are made in your chest. Chest arteries or veins from your leg are attached to the heart to "bypass" the clogged coronary artery or arteries. The surgical team passes instruments through the ports to perform the bypasses. The heart surgeon views these operations on video monitors rather than directly. Procedures are also being developed to replace damaged valves through limited access ports.

What is minimally invasive coronary artery bypass (MIDCAB)?

MIDCAB is used to avoid the heart-lung machine. It's done while your heart is still beating and is intended for use when only one or two arteries will be bypassed. MIDCAB uses a combination of small holes or "ports" in your chest and a small incision made directly over the coronary artery to be bypassed. The heart surgeon usually detaches an artery from inside the chest wall and re-attaches it to the clogged coronary artery farthest from to the occlusion. The surgeon views and performs the attachment directly, so the artery to be bypassed must be right under the incision.

AHA Recommendation

The American Heart Association American Heart Association (AHA),
n.pr a national voluntary health agency that has the goal of increasing public and medical awareness of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and thereby reducing the number of associated deaths and disabilities.
 Council on Cardio-Thoracic and Vascular Surgery has been carefully monitoring these two procedures. Both surgeries appear promising but need more study. MIDCAB, for example, seems to be easier on the patient and less expensive than a coronary artery bypass graft coronary artery bypass graft
n. Abbr. CABG
A surgical procedure in which a section of vein or other conduit is grafted between the aorta and a coronary artery below the region of an obstruction in that artery.
. However, there may be complications that mean an open-chest procedure is needed. Neither procedure can be given an unqualified endorsement until more data on their effectiveness is obtained and analyzed. Information is being gathered and scrutinized at many medical centers in North America and elsewhere. If these surgeries can be refined to the point where they're no more invasive than angioplasty, they'll have a distinct advantage over angioplasty. However, at this point they're more invasive than angioplasty and require general anesthesia.

Check with a large medical center in your area to find locations in your region where these procedures are being done.

Information Provided by the American Heart Association.
COPYRIGHT 2003 CBJ, L.P.
No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2003, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:Health care: spotlight on heart disease
Publication:San Fernando Valley Business Journal
Geographic Code:1USA
Date:Oct 13, 2003
Words:460
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