Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (also called coronary artery bypass surgery [CABG] and bypass operation) is performed to restore blood flow to the heart. This relieves chest pain and ischemia, improves the patient's quality of life, and, in some...
cases, prolongs the patient's life. The goals of the procedure are to relieve symptoms of coronary artery disease, enable the patient to resume a normal lifestyle, and to lower the risk of a heart attack or other heart problems.
According to the American Heart Association, appropriate candidates for coronary artery bypass graft surgery include patients who:
- have blockages in at least two to three major coronary arteries, especially if the blockages are in arteries that feed the heart's left ventricle or in the left anterior descending artery
- have angina so severe that even mild exertion causes chest pain
- have poor left ventricular function
- cannot tolerate percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and do not respond well to drug therapy
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Provides an overview of the circulatory system including the blood vessels that supply the heart. When these coronary arteries become blocked, the vessels need to be bypassed with other blood vessels. The animation describes a coronary artery bypass graft surgery or CABG.
During a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), the chest is opened to visualize the heart (A). A heart-lung machine takes over the function of the heart during the procedure. A portion of the saphenous vein of the leg is removed (B). This vessel is used to bypass a blockage of the coronary artery. It is attached from the aorta past the point of blockage (C). Another option is to bypass a blockage with the mammary artery (D). The bypass increases blood flow to the area served by the coronary artery (E). (Illustration by Argosy.)
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Other Information
Coronary artery bypass surgery, also coronary artery bypass graft surgery, and colloquially heart bypass or bypass surgery is a surgical procedure performed to relieve angina and reduce the risk of death from coronary artery disease. Arteries or veins from elsewhere in the patient's body are grafted to the coronary arteries to bypass atherosclerotic narrowings and improve the blood supply to the coronary circulation supplying the myocardium (heart muscle). This surgery is usually performed with the heart stopped, necessitating the usage of cardiopulmonary bypass; techniques are available to perform CABG on a beating heart, so-called "off-pump" surgery.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronary_artery_bypass_surgery
Other Information
In 2006, 2,192 heart transplantations were performed in the United States. There are 257 transplant hospitals in the United States, 135 of which perform heart transplantations. (http://www.unos.org/)
From: Unos.org
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