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Cardiac Surgery
Our
mission
statement is to
provide the
highest quality
patient care
while advancing
the frontiers
of cardiac
surgery
practice,
science, and
technology. We
provide the
complete
spectrum of
adult cardiac
surgery. We
care for
patients with
coronary artery
disease,
valvular heart
disease, heart
failure, aortic
aneurysms,
adult
congenital
heart disease,
and for
patients
requiring
circulatory
support and
cardiac
transplantation.
Our goal is to
provide you or
your loved
ones--our
patients-- with
the highest
level of
compassion,
care, and
competence that
modern medicine
has to offer.
Coronary
Artery Bypass
Surgery
Since 1970,
more than
10,000 patients
have undergone
coronary artery
bypass surgery
at BWH.
Advanced
techniques in
coronary
revascularization
are performed
including
minimally
invasive
coronary artery
bypass surgery,
coronary
endarterectomy,
reoperative
coronary bypass
techniques,
transmyocardial
laser
revascularization,
and multiple
autologous
arterial
bypass.
Coronary artery
bypass graft
surgery or CABG
has been
traditionally
performed with
the patient
supported on a
machine to do
the work of the
heart and
lungs. This
allows the
bypass grafts
to be performed
on a still
heart.
Recently, new
technology has
been developed
that allows
coronary artery
bypass graft
surgery to be
performed on
the beating
heart,
eliminating the
need for the
heart-lung
machine in many
patients.
Minimally
Invasive Heart
Surgery
Although CABG
surgery usually
involves
opening the
chest, it can
be performed
using
minimally
invasive
incisions.
Working between
the ribs, the
surgeon can
view the heart
either directly
or through a
small,
tube-shaped
camera
projecting the
image onto a
video screen.
Often known as
MIDCAB, this
type of
minimally
invasive heart
surgery is
cosmetically
superior and
results in
fewer
complications
than
conventional
open-heart
surgery.
Patients often
have a shorter
hospital stay
and more rapid
recovery time.
Having
extensive
experience with
excellent
results, the
CVC at Boston
Medical Center
is a major
referral site
for minimally
invasive
procedures.
In addition,
our CVC
surgeons are
experts in
off-pump CABG
surgery, also
known as
"beating heart"
surgery. During
this procedure,
the surgeon
bypasses
multiple
arteries on a
beating heart
without using
the heart-lung
machine. This
surgical
approach can be
of great
benefit to
patients
because it
reduces the
complications
that some
patients
experience from
the heart-lung
machine.
Currently, 40
percent of CABG
cases at the
CVC employ this
surgical
technique.
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