Also referred to as cardiac surgery or heart surgery, this includes any surgical procedure involving the heart or the blood vessels that carry blood to and from the heart.
While this type of surgery is not always necessary to treat heart conditions, a cardiologist or other specialist may recommend it to treat or prevent heart attacks and blood clots, to address irregular heartbeats, to open blocked or narrowed arteries and for a variety of other reasons.
Some cardiovascular conditions require open surgery, but many can be treated with minimally invasive procedures using catheters and robotics.
Patients with valvular heart disease may require repair or replacement of the faulty valve with either a mechanical or tissue artificial valve. One valve of the heart, the mitral valve, can sometimes be repaired rather than replaced. The surgeon will assess the function of the patient's heart to determine the best option in each specific case.
Minimally invasive surgery is performed through a small incision in the chest rather than the traditional method of opening the patient's sternum ("open heart" surgery). The surgeon will determine on a case-by-case basis whether or not a minimally invasive procedure is the best option.
One of the most common surgical procedures performed, coronary artery bypass graft surgery is recommended when patients have blockages in the vessels that supply blood to the heart that cannot be repaired with stents or have multiple arteries supplying the heart that are blocked. In this open heart procedure, the surgeon will "bypass" the blockages using arteries from the chest wall or veins harvested from the patient's leg. This procedure creates new routes around the blockages for blood to flow to the heart, allowing improved delivery of oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle.
The carotid endarterectomy procedure is used for patients who are at risk for acute blockage of the flow of blood to the brain, or ischemic stroke, due to blockage to the carotid arteries. Patients who undergo this surgery are usually discharged home the following day.
Also known as fem-pop, the femoral popliteal bypass procedure reroutes blood around a blockage to the arteries in the upper legs using an artificial graft or a vein harvested from the leg.
The aorta is the large blood vessel that brings oxygenated blood away from the heart to the rest of the body. Some patients develop a weakened area in the wall of the abdominal portion of the aorta, known as an aortic aneurysm. The abdominal aortic aneurysm repair procedure involves replacing the weakened portion of the aorta with an artificial graft to avoid the risk of rupture.
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR) is a revolutionary cardiac valve procedure used to treat patients with severe aortic stenosis who are not eligible for traditional open heart surgery. Unlike aortic valve replacement performed by traditional open heart surgery, TAVR is a less-invasive technology that allows your heart team to replace a diseased aortic heart valve while the heart is still beating.
An implantable valve is inserted through a catheter and placed within the diseased aortic valve. The catheter allows the valve to be inserted through an incision in the leg and into an artery (transfemoral procedure) or through an incision between the ribs. It then enters the bottom end of the heart, or the apex (transapical procedure). The heart team assigned to your case will determine the best procedure.
Not every patient in need of an aortic valve replacement will be considered for TAVR. Each patient is evaluated using specific criteria to determine what type procedure can give a patient the best individual outcome. TAVR candidates were diagnosed with severe symptomatic aortic stenosis and are at intermediate or greater risk for open heart surgery. The risk associated with surgery depends on how healthy or sick a patient is. Based on the health of the individual, some patients may be considered intermediate risk for surgery.
After performing hundreds of heart valve replacements at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and Our Lady of Lourdes Heart Hospital, renowned local heart surgeon Richard Dearman, MD, underwent a heart valve replacement of his own.
Learn More about Our Unique Heart Health Offerings Across Louisiana and Greater Jackson
The surgeons at Our Lady of the Lake Physician Group Cardiothoracic Surgery and Our Lady of the Lake Heart and Vascular Institute perform a wide variety of surgeries to treat conditions and diseases affecting the heart.
Cardiovascular surgical procedures at Our Lady of Lourdes Regional Medical Center and Our Lady of Lourdes Heart Hospital are performed in a specially designed hybrid endovascular suite where open-heart surgery and minimally invasive procedures can take place on the same patient simultaneously in one operating room.
Our Lady of the Angels Health partners with Lady of the Lake Louisiana Cardiology Associates to provide specialized cardiology care for a full range of heart conditions.
Mississippi Heart & Vascular Institute and St. Dominic's Cardiovascular Surgery Associates include teams of highly skilled cardiovascular surgeons well trained in the latest surgical or minimally invasive procedures.
St. Francis Health offers interventional cardiology, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, a state-of-the-art hybrid operating suite and a full range of diagnostic and interventional cardiac and peripheral vascular catheterization services.
Across our system, our cardiovascular centers are renowned for top-of-the-line care for every type of heart condition.