A surgical operation to remedy a condition of the heart.
Any surgical procedure involving the heart. In closed heart surgery, a small incision is made into the heart; a heart-lung machine is not used. In open-heart surgery, the heart is opened, the chambers of the heart are made visible, and blood is detoured from the operating field through the heart-lung machine.
Open-heart surgery permits the treatment of many previously inoperable conditions that were potentially fatal, or which made the patient chronically disabled. Coronary artery vein bypass grafting (CAVBG), used to remedy obstruction of the arteries supplying the heart muscle, was first carried out in the mid-1960s and is now widely practiced. Constricted heart valves today are routinely dilated by techniques of minimally invasive surgery (MIS), such as angioplasty and laser treatment, and faulty valves can be replaced with mechanical alternatives.
Cardiac surgery refers to any surgical procedure performed on the heart. Open heart surgery is utilized to address most types of congenital heart defects present from birth and various heart valve disorders. Coronary artery bypass surgery is conducted to redirect blood flow around blocked coronary arteries. In certain cases where open heart surgery is not feasible, angioplasty balloons can be used to widen narrowed heart valves. Heart transplant surgery provides hope for individuals with progressive and incurable heart disease.