Type of Surgery
Information
Last updated: 11/24/2009
The risks of myocardial resection are based in large part on the patient's underlying heart condition and, therefore, vary greatly. The procedure involves opening the heart, so the person is at risk for the complications associated with major heart...
surgery, such as stroke, shock, infection, and hemorrhage. Since the amount of myocardium to remove is not precise, a patient may demonstrate little benefit in cardiac performance. If not enough or too much tissue is removed, the patient will continue to have heart problems.
General anesthetic with inhalation gases should be avoided as they can promote arrhythmias. Therefore, anesthesia should be limited to intravenous medications.
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In addition to showing how a myocardial infarction (heart attack) occurs, this narrated animation also shows how atherosclerosis is caused and how it can affect the coronary arteries.
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Other Information
Myocardial resection is a surgical procedure in which a portion of the heart muscle is removed.
Purpose
Myocardial resection is done to improve the stability of the heart function or rhythm. Also known as endocardial resection, this open-heart surgery is done to destroy or remove damaged areas of the heart that cause life-threatening heart rhythms. This procedure is often performed in people who have had a heart attack, in order to prevent future rapid heart rates. It is also used in people who have Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome (a condition resulting in abnormal heart rhythm).
After receiving a general anesthetic, an incision will be made in the chest to expose the heart. When the exact source of the abnormal rhythm is identified, it is removed. If there are areas around the source that may contribute to the problem, they can be frozen with a special probe to further insure against dangerous heart rates. The amount of tissue removed is so small, usually only 2 or 3 millimeters, that there is no damage to the structure of the heart. On some occasions, aneurysms of the heart wall are removed as well.
Other Information
In 2005, an estimated 6,989,000 inpatient cardiovascular operations and procedures were performed in the United States; 4.1 million were performed on males and 2.9 million were performed on females.
From: American Heart Association
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