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Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (CABG)
At Concord Hospital Center for Cardiac Care, coronary artery bypass surgery is enhanced by the use of many of the latest techniques. These newer innovations afford patients
less pain, faster healing, and a safer, more productive recovery.
Procedures for vein and artery harvesting, for example, can be performed through tiny incisions in procedures called endoscopic vein harvest (EVH) and artery harvest (ERH).
Smaller incisions afford our patients less pain, less swelling, lower infection rates, and a faster recovery.
In addition to EVH and ERH, we offer newer techniques designed to minimize aortic trauma during bypass surgery. During a portion of the procedure, a vein or artery is
connected to the aorta, which provides the additional blood flow to the heart arteries. Special devices are used on select patients during this portion of the procedure to
provide a bloodless field and avoid aortic clamping. Using these devices can potentially lower stroke risk in certain patients.
Off-pump or beating heart surgery is also performed at Concord Hospital. This technique is performed on select patients, including the elderly, those with multiple medical
problems, and those with extensive calcification in the artery walls. The procedure negates the need for utilization of the traditional heart-lung machine.
Coronary endarterectomies are also performed routinely on patients with diffuse coronary disease where a traditional bypass cannot be performed. This allows for a more
complete revascularization of the heart muscle and ultimately a faster recovery.
Heart Valve Surgery
At Center for Cardiac Care, we offer traditional aortic valve replacement surgery with mechanical or tissue valve prostheses. We also provide many of the latest techniques used
in repairing mitral valves. We take special pride in offering a vast majority of our patients mitral valve repair versus replacement surgery. Mitral valve repair provides
our postoperative patients with a lower risk of stroke, valve infection, improved heart function, and better long-term survival. Further, mitral valve repair avoids the risk
of long-term or lifelong coumadin therapy.
Atrial Fibrillation
At the Center for Cardiac Care, patients with acquired coronary artery or valve disease may have an abnormal heart rhythm referred to as atrial fibrillation. Select
patients who require open-heart surgery are offered a procedure that can be concurrently performed with bypass or valve surgery, resulting in a normal sinus rhythm
postoperatively. The procedure is called the Maze procedure and involves a radiofrequency device that ablates or eliminates the abnormal pathways within the left atrium that
are thought to cause atrial fibrillation. This can restore the heart to a normal rhythm in a majority of patients and thus avoid complications of atrial fibrillation such as
dizziness, palpitations, stroke, and the risk of lifelong coumadin therapy.
Aortic Aneurysms
Aneurysms of the aorta, which are located within the thoracic cavity, sometimes require surgical repair depending on the size and location of the aneurysm. Patients can be
screened and evaluated at Concord Hospital for possible surgical or non-surgical repair. Non-surgical repair involves endovascular grafting, where a custom designed vascular
graft is placed within the aneurysm non-surgically via catheters in the leg arteries. The new graft safely excludes the abnormal aneurysm from the patient’s circulation.
Endovascular grafting is performed in select patients at the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Thoracic Aortic Center.
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