Concord Hospital’s Center for Cardiac Care provides life-saving cardiac procedures including open-heart surgery, valve replacement and repair, surgery for aortic trauma and other heart-muscle-saving treatments.

The hospital’s cardiac surgery team has been nationally recognized for efforts to improve patient safety. The surgery team includes the following highly skilled, specially trained cardiac professionals:

• A cardiac surgeon
• Physician assistants
• An advanced registered nurse practioner (ARNP)
• Cardiac-trained anesthesiologists
• Perfusionists (who run the heart-lung machine)
• Cardiac operating room nurses
• Specialized operating room technicians

Off-pump Bypass Surgery

Off-pump, or beating-heart, surgery is being performed at the Center for Cardiac Care. The technique allows a small section of the heart to be immobilized while the rest of the heart beats normally. This allows the cardiothoracic surgeon to work on a beating heart, creating a quiet operative field. In this manner, meticulous attention can be directed toward the connection between the bypass and the heart’s coronary artery.

This technique may be helpful in the treatment of certain groups of patients, including the elderly, those with multiple medical problems, those with extensive calcification in their artery walls and patients undergoing second operations. Our cardiothoracic surgeon is employing beating-heart surgery in patients where a distinct advantage exists. For others, the standard approach is also available, allowing the treatment to be tailored to each patient’s needs.

Minimal Access for Aortic Valve Surgery

Minimal access aortic valve surgery, a less invasive operation for aortic valve surgery, is being performed at the Concord Hospital Center for Cardiac Care. In this approach, only the top third of the sternum is divided, which may allow for more rapid postoperative healing and return to full activity. Although it is not for all patients, the technique may offer certain individuals an advantage to conventional surgery.

Tissue Valves

Tissue valves, constructed from animal tissues, are available at the Center for Cardiac Care. These valves function much like normal valves and do not require anticoagulation. Edwards PERIMOUNT and Medtronic MOSAIC are the two types of tissue valves available to patients. The Edwards PERIMOUNT valve is a bovine pericardial valve. It came into general use in the U.S. in the early 1990s, having been used in Europe for a decade before that. The Medtronic MOSAIC valve has recently become available. Currently, follow-up studies are limited to six years post surgery; however, early results and laboratory predictor studies are promising. Both types are available at Concord Hospital as aortic mitral replacements.