Cardiovascular and Cardiothoracic Surgery

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Thoracic and cardiovascular surgery is the field of medicine involved in surgical treatment of organs inside the thoracic cavity – generally used to treat conditions of the heart, lung and other pleural or mediastinal structures.

Type of Heart Surgery

Bypass Surgery

Bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), treats blocked heart arteries by taking arteries or veins from other parts of your body — called grafts — and using them to reroute the blood around the clogged artery to supply blood flow to your heart muscle. A patient may undergo one, two, three or more bypass grafts, depending on how many coronary arteries are narrowed. The procedure requires several days in the hospital.

Reasons for the procedure:

• One of the most common and effective procedures to manage blockage of blood to the heart muscle.
• Improves the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart.
• Relieves chest pain (angina).
• Reduces risk of heart attack.
• Improves ability for physical activity that has been limited by angina or ischemia.

Artificial Heart Valve Surgery

In a healthy heart, valves control the flow of blood by making it move in one direction through the heart and body. If a valve is not working correctly, blood flow and the delicate network of blood vessels that carry oxygen throughout the body are affected. Heart valve surgery is performed to repair or replace a valve in the heart that is not working properly because of valvular heart disease.

Reason for the procedure:

• Restores function of the heart valves

Thoracic Surgery

Thoracic surgery focuses on treating conditions of the body’s thorax (chest) area, including the esophagus, lungs, mediastinum (the area between the lungs), trachea and diaphragm. Some of the surgeries we provide are diagnostic lung surgery (bronchoscopy, mediastinoscopy or midiastionotomy), lung cancer surgery, thorascopic pleural biopsy and esophageal surgery.

Vascular Surgery

Vascular surgery is the surgical specialty that focuses on the – blood vessels, large and small. At Merit Health, we offer leg revascularization (arterial bypass of the lower extremities), abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, surgical repair of aorto-iliac occlusive disease and carotid endarterectomy.