Relevant information about Heart Surgery.
Heart Surgery is also known as cardiac surgery. It is a procedure on the heart or great vessels performed by a heart Surgeon, which has become very popular over the last years, due to the great increase of heart diseases as a consequence of other issues such as stress, cholesterol and high blood pressure. Heart Surgery is usually done to treat complications of ischemic heart disease, correct congenital heart disease, or treat valvular heart disease which may be created by several causes including endocarditis and other less common causes. Nowadays, there are high qualified Surgeons who are specialized in many specific procedures to treat heart diseases.
There are several procedures involved in Heart Surgery, each one of them with very specific and complex characteristics. One of the most common ones is angioplasty, which is a technique where it is mechanically widening a narrowed or obstructed blood vessel. The first cause of obstructed blood vessel usually is atherosclerosis. The procedure consists of an empty and collapsed balloon on a guide wire, which is known as a balloon catheter, passed into the narrowed locations and then inflated to a fixed size using water pressures, between 75 to 500 times normal blood pressure. The item known as balloon crushes the fatty deposits, in order to open up the blood vessel and improved flow. Finally, the balloon is collapsed and withdrawn.
Another procedure, closely related to regular angioplasty, is the angioplasty with stent implantation. As previously explained, angioplasty is a percutaneous coronary intervention. On the other hand, a stent is a wire tube that expands to hold the artery open during surgery. Stent is usually placed at the narrowed section during the angioplasty procedure. Currently, angioplasty with stent placement has become the first choice of treatment for heart attacks, whenever it can be made in due time. The objective of this revascularization procedure is to increase blood flow to the heart muscle tissue by clearing out both the blood clot and cholesterol from a ruptured plaque that is blocking the blood vessel involved. Actually, the angioplasty stenting procedure is less invasive than other procedures, and at the same time, it has a shorter recovery time than, for example, bypass surgery.
In the case of bypass, this procedure involves open heart surgery. It is usually performed to relieve angina, and at the same time, to reduce the risk of death from a delicate coronary artery condition. In general, this procedure is made with the heart stopped, so it is needed the application of cardiopulmonary bypass. The bypass procedure is worldwide known, and among the specialists that have become an eminence on it, there is the Argentinean Doctor René Favaloro who has contributed greatly to the heart surgery specialty.
In relation to heart valve repair, it is a procedure normally used to repair diseased heart valves. There are diagnostic tests involved, which are intended to help Doctors identify the location, type and extent of the valve disease. Based on the Results of the tests, there are several procedures that can be taken into account to operate the heart valve.
A procedure very related to heart valve repair, is heart valve replacement. This procedure is usually performed when one or more valves in the Patient’s heart are not working properly and blood doesn't flow through the heart in the correct way. Currently, the described condition is much more common than it seems, affecting to a great part of the people in the world. A heart valve procedure can stop or improve the Patient’s symptoms, and it may also prevent permanent damage to the heart. But there are several alternatives to heart valve replacement surgery, which can be a complex procedure to be performed. The alternative treatments for heart valve disease can be: certain medicines such as diuretics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors and digoxin can relieve symptoms, which may be used in case the Patient suffers of a mild heart valve disease; a surgery to widen it is recommended if the patient has a narrowed valve; and there is the possibility of repairing the heart valve instead of replacing it; and finally, in case the valve is not seriously damaged, mitral valve repair procedure is an option. All of these alternatives are usually offered to patients according to their specific condition, having in mind that the heart valve procedure can be quite risky and complex to carry out.
The last mentioned procedure, mitral valve repair is a surgery that preserves the heart valve of the patient. There are many people with mitral valve prolapse, and in those cases the preferred surgical treatment to correct the condition is mitral valve repair.
The mitral valve consists of what is described as two triangular-shaped flaps of tissue, usually called leaflets. The mentioned leaflets of the mitral valve connect to the heart muscle through a ring named generally the annulus. Doctors can modify the original valve through a valvuloplasty, and then eliminate backward blood flow. A specialist in this procedure would also be able to repair the valve by reconnecting valve leaflets, or if the condition requires it, also removing excess valve tissue. That way, it is possible to let leaflets get very close. There are also some chances that when repairing the valve, it is needed to include tightening or even replacing the ring that is usually placed around the valve. In that case, the procedure receives the name of annuloplasty.
Some of the clues that let Surgeons know that patients may need this kind of procedures, is when there is bad mitral valve regurgitation. If bad mitral valve regurgitation is not monitored closely, patients may get their heart damaged so seriously that even a surgery would not help to repair it, or even the heart may become so weak that a surgery wouldn't help the heart to be cured, neither.
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