What is a coronary artery bypass operation?
Every organ in our body needs oxygen in order to live. Oxygen supply to the organs is delivered via the bloodstream. Our heart muscle that pumps blood into the blood vessels throughout the body, itself requires a constant supply of oxygen in order to function well. This supply is provided by the coronary artery system located around the heart.
When the coronary arteries are narrow or blocked in various points, the blood flow to the heart muscle itself is affected, the heart "suffers" and its task as a pump is compromised. In such a situation, the blood supply to the heart muscle itself must be renewed by bypassing the narrowed or blocked points in the coronary arteries - a process known as "coronary artery bypass surgery". The final result of such bypass surgery can be seen in the following sketches:
How is the operation performed?
During bypass surgery, the surgeon opens the chest through the chest bone (sternum) and then the patient is connected to the heart-lung bypass machine, which functions as an artificial heart and lungs, so that the heart can stop beating without affecting the blood supply to the remaining organs in the body. When the surgeon accomplishes the bypass graft, the blood supply is resumed and the heart starts beating again. The patient is weaned off the bypass machine.
What is special about the coronary artery bypass operations performed in our department?
Open heart surgery has been performed for many years using the heart-lung machine, as described above. The chest is also generally opened via the median line of the sternum. However, over the past few years, as in the leading international centers, our department performs advanced operations, such as:
Off pump coronary artery bypass - OPCAB
Minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass - MIDCAB
Complete arterial revascularization
Additional information and video clips can be found in the above links.
Video clips:
Exposure of the heart and connection to the heart-lung bypass machine
Preparation of the internal mammary artery for bypass
Arterial anastomosis on a beating heart
Cardio-Pulmonary (CPB) machine
Cardio Thoracic Surgery - Department |
