Coronary artery surgery with a beating heart
The development of cardiac surgery was based on the use of the extracorporeal circulation machine that is connected to the patient and replaces the function of the heart and lungs.
In this way, it becomes possible to stop the function of the heart and work in a bloodless and immobile surgical field.
Nevertheless, even with the development of this specific technique, but also with the help of technology, there is always the possibility of complications that reaches 2-8%.
For at least 20 years, cardiac surgeons, in their effort to reduce perioperative complications, recovery time and improve mortality, have thought about operating more naturally, that is, without the use of the extracorporeal circulation machine (which is considered the main cause of these complications), but above all, without stopping the heart.
Especially in coronary artery surgery (vessels that supply blood to the heart itself and are located on its surface) this is completely possible.
In cases of stenosis of these vessels, the indicated operation is the bypass of these stenosis.
This bypass of the coronary arteries, known to all of us as bypass, can be performed with complete success only by cardiac surgeons specialized in this technique.
Coronary artery surgery with a beating heart | Technique:
With sophisticated surgical instruments called stabilizers, we keep the parts and vessels of the heart that we want to re-blood, immobile, and with prepared grafts that we take from the patient himself, we bypass the stenosis created by coronary disease and provide blood to the periphery of the vessel. In other words, we restore its blood supply.
It has been proven in multicenter studies that the operating room time, the need for blood transfusion, as well as the stay in the ICU and the hospital are reduced.
The patient is mobilized immediately on the first postoperative day and complications in the respiratory system, kidneys and brain are minimized as well as infections, arrhythmias and neurological disorders.
Benefits for the patient:
It is worth noting that those who benefit most from this technique are mainly high surgical risk patients, with a low ejection fraction with or without ischemia.
It has been proven that the higher the risk the patients are, the better the results of the operation.
The same applies to those over 75 years of age, those suffering from atherosclerotic aorta, COPD, diabetics, kidney patients, as well as patients who are on antiplatelet therapy, patients with peripheral angiopathy and especially those who do not receive blood transfusions and those who are subject to reoperations.
Specialization and Organized Hospital Structures:
Coronary artery surgery with a beating heart requires specialization and dedication, modern hospital logistics and cooperation between surgeons and anesthesiologists.
Over the past 20 years, our medical team has greatly developed this specific method to perform more than 99% of cases without using the cardiopulmonary bypass machine, only when we have programmed it, in cases with ischemia or after myocardial infarction, but again without stopping the heart.
At the Athens Medical Center’s Center for Heart Surgery, the combination of this technique and the faithful application of the official guidelines of international cardiac surgery societies for the use of arterial grafts (two mammary arteries mainly) and the avoidance of manipulations on the aorta, has led to excellent results.
The daily update on new technologies and materials, combined with the continuous investments of the Athens Medical Group in biomedical equipment, as well as the excellent results of our team, make our center unique.
At the same time, and through the cooperation of the Interdisciplinary Team, we are able to offer the most personalized treatment for each case, no matter how complex it may be.
