Cardiac Surgery
The cardiovascular surgeons at Gadsden Regional Medical Center offer a wide range of surgical treatment options, from open-heart surgery to minimally invasive procedures. Patients may seek heart surgery for a number of reasons, including coronary artery disease, severe chest pain due to narrowing arteries or a blockage in a blood vessel. It could also be sought out as an emergency cardiovascular surgery response to a heart attack.
Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair
An endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) is a cardiac procedure used to treat pathology of the aorta, most commonly an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), or an aneurysm that happens below the heart. The procedure involves the placement of an expandable stent graft within the aorta to treat aortic disease without operating directly on the aorta.
Coronary Artery Bypass
This is the most common kind of heart surgery, also called coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG), coronary artery bypass (CAB), coronary bypass or bypass surgery. One or more blocked coronary arteries are passed by a blood vessel graft to restore normal blood flow to the heart. These grafts usually come from the patient's own arteries and veins located in the chest (thoracic), leg (saphenous) or arm (radial). The graft goes around the blocked artery (or arteries) to create new pathways for oxygen-rich blood to flow to the heart.
Diagnostic tests have helped your heart doctor identify the location, type and extent of your coronary artery disease. The results of these tests, the structure of your heart, your age, the severity of your symptoms, the presence of other medical conditions, and your lifestyle will help your cardiologist, surgeon and you determine what type of treatment is best. CABG surgery may be combined with other heart surgeries, such as valve surgery, aortic aneurysm surgery or surgery to treat atrial fibrillation (an irregular heartbeat).
Angioplasty
A tiny balloon on the end of a catheter is inflated to push plaque against the wall of the artery to improve blood flow. A laser can also be used to break up the plaque. It is a common treatment for coronary artery disease, which is a hardening or narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. While blockages can be removed and arteries expanded in this way, angioplasty does not cure coronary artery disease. Only lifestyle and dietary changes and a reduction of other risk factors can truly work to prevent the further development or progression of disease.