Sometimes open heart surgery may be the best alternative for cardiac patients who are not candidates for continuing medical therapy or a non-surgical procedure. The most common heart surgery is coronary artery bypass surgery, which uses a vein or artery from the body to bypass or reroute blood supply around blockages in the heart arteries. Narrowing of the heart arteries can lead to a heart attack, and bypass surgery improves the supply of blood and oxygen to the heart muscle.
The four valves of the heart (tricuspid, pulmonic, mitral and aortic) ensure that blood flows forward as the heart muscle contracts and relaxes. For cardiac patients who have a heart valve that does not function properly, valve repair or replacement surgery may be recommended. Repairing or replacing the faulty heart valve restores normal function to the valve as well as to the function of the heart muscle.
While open heart surgery is considered to be a serious operation, it is a highly successful surgery at the Fairview Heart Center that enables the patient to live a longer and more active life.
The American College of Surgeons recommends that a heart program perform a minimum of 150 cases per year. The Fairview Heart Center has consistently far exceeded these recommendations. Furthermore, Fairview Heart Center’s mortality and complication rates consistently compare favorably with national statistics.
Interested in learning more? We are pleased to present our 1st edition of Surgical Outcomes. This is an abridged version of cardiothoracic surgical results of the Cleveland Clinic Open Heart Surgery Program at Fairview Hospital and relates outcomes to national standards established by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons. To view this document you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.
The Cleveland Clinic Open Heart Services at Fairview Hospital
The Heart Center at Fairview Hospital has been recognized for many years as a leader in cardiac care. Now that program has been strengthened even further through the addition of the Cleveland Clinic Heart Surgery Program. The physicians who participate in the program are on staff at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation but see patients and perform operations at Fairview Hospital, a member of the Cleveland Clinic Health System. This makes it very convenient for West Side residents to receive the high quality cardiac surgery for which the Cleveland Clinic is known, close to where they live.
The new partnership also allows Cleveland Clinic heart surgeons to work with community cardiologists to assure that Fairview’s heart patients benefit from the latest procedures and treatment protocols. Both the Cleveland Clinic Heart Surgery physician staff and the nursing staff that supports them are continuously learning the very latest techniques in cardiac patient care. The partnership with the Cleveland Clinic Department of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgery also allows for standardization in patient protocols and strict clinical oversight as well as the quality management for which The Cleveland Clinic Foundation is famous.
The program at Fairview Hospital offers some very sophisticated procedures such as valve surgery, transmyocardial revascurlarization, beating heart surgery and the option to choose bloodless surgery.
EVH or endoscopic vein harvest allows a portion of vein from the inside of the leg to be removed through a small incision. Utilization of this technique reduces the length of the incision by several inches. A video camera is inserted into the small incision and is used to help view the vein and guide in the removal of the needed length. Some of the benefits include decreased pain, fewer wound healing problems, minimal scarring and a quicker recovery time.
MAZE is a surgical intervention performed with other cardiac surgical procedures like coronary artery bypass grafting, mitral valve repair and/or valve replacement. The procedure is used in an effort to cure atrial fibrillation (AF) by interrupting the electrical patterns that are responsible for this irregular heart rhythm. Incisions are made in the atria (top) portion of the heart. These incisions stop the formation and the conduction of erratic electrical impulses and channel the normal electrical impulses in one direction. The result is a regular heart rhythm. Scar tissue generated by the incisions permanently blocks the travel routes of the electrical impulses that cause AF. The major benefit is that the maze procedure restores synchrony to heart and preserves organized heart contraction.
For more information on The Cleveland Clinic Open Heart Surgery Program at Fairview Hospital, please call (216) 476-7310.