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Wednesday, January 24, 2018

About Cardiovascular Surgery Avondale AZ

Thousands of cardiovascular surgeries are performed every day in the United States. Specialists across the country, from big cities to small cities such as Avondale AZ, carry out these surgical intervention. In fact, in a recent year, 500,000 coronary bypass operations were performed. Despite the shortage of donor organs, more than 2,300 people received a heart transplant.



Two important advances in medicine made cardiovascular surgery possible are:

1. The extracorporeal circulation machine, which assumes the functions of the heart.
2. Body cooling techniques, which allow to prolong the time of the intervention without causing brain damage.

What is the extracorporeal circulation machine?

 

The extracorporeal circulation machine is also called a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. It assumes the functions of the heart taking care of the action of pumping and oxygenating the blood. In this way, the heart remains immobile during the operation, which is necessary to open the heart (open heart surgery).

When the patient is connected to an extracorporeal circulation machine, it performs the same functions that the heart and lungs would perform. The machine carries blood from the upper right chamber of the heart (the right atrium) to a special container called an oxygenator. Inside the oxygenator, oxygen bubbles mix with the blood and enter the red blood cells. This causes the blood to change from dark red (poor oxygen) to bright red (rich in oxygen). Next, a filter removes the air bubbles from the oxygen-rich blood and the blood passes through a plastic tube until it reaches the body's main blood conduit (the aorta). From the aorta, the blood reaches the rest of the body.

The extracorporeal circulation machine can supply the functions of the heart and lungs for several hours. The perfusion auxiliaries, which specialize in blood flow, are responsible for the operation of the extracorporeal circulation equipment.

What are cooling techniques?


Cooling techniques allow the heart to be stopped for prolonged periods without damaging the heart tissue. Low temperatures prevent heart tissue from being damaged because they reduce the heart's need for oxygen.

The heart can be cooled in two ways:

  1. The blood cools as it passes through the extracorporeal circulation machine. In turn, this cooled blood reduces body temperature by entering the body. 
  2. The heart is bathed in salty water (saline solution) cold. When the heart has cooled it slows down and stops. Injecting a special potassium solution into the heart can accelerate this process and stop the heart completely. In this way, the heart tissue does not suffer damage for 2 to 4 hours. 

 

Who is in the operating room during the intervention?

 

During a cardiothoracic surgery, a highly trained group works as a team. The cardiovascular surgeon directs the surgery team and performs the essential parts of the operation.

The assistant surgeons follow the instructions of the cardiovascular surgeon. The cardiovascular anesthesiologist administers to the patient the medications that allow him to sleep during the operation (that is, the anesthesia) and controls the respirator, which the patient breathes during the intervention.

The perfusion auxiliaries are responsible for operating the extracorporeal circulation device.
Cardiovascular nurses are specially trained to help with heart operations.


What types of cardiothoracic and cardiovascular surgery exist?



  1. Coronary bypass
  2. Heart Valve Repair or Replacement Surgery
  3. Antiarrhythmic surgery
  4. Aneurysm Repair
  5. Transmyocardial laser revascularization
  6. Carotid endarterectomy
  7. Heart transplant