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If you have coronary artery disease (CAD), the arteries that supply blood and oxygen to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed. If lifestyle changes and medicines don't help, your doctor may recommend coronary artery bypass surgery.
The surgery uses a piece of a vein from the leg or artery from the chest or wrist. The surgeon attaches this to the coronary artery above and below the narrowed area or blockage. This allows blood to bypass the blockage. Some people need more than one bypass.
You may need bypass surgery for various reasons. Another procedure for CAD, angioplasty, may not have widened the artery enough. In some cases, the angioplasty tube can't reach the blockage.
A bypass also can close again. This happens in more than 10 percent of bypass surgeries, usually after 10 or more years.
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
A '''coronary artery bypass graft''' (CABG) or heart bypass. it was invented in Argentina by René Favaloro and it is a surgery performed in patients with Coronary_heart_disease (see atherosclerosis) for the relief of angina and possible improved heart muscle function. Veins or artery from elsewhere in the patient's body are grafted from the aorta to the Coronary_circulation arteries, bypassing coronary artery stenosis caused by atherosclerosis and improving the blood supply to the myocardium (heart muscle). First, the sternum is cut down the middle with a special bone saw and the chest opened (a procedure known as "cracking the chest" or a median sternotomy). Depending on a number of factors, the surgeon may decide to place the patient on cardiopulmonary bypass ("on-pump") or use suction-stabilizing devices to hold the heart still while sewing the anastamoses ("off-pump"). Blood vessels are harvested from elsewhere in the body for grafting. Sometimes artery end branches supplying tissues near the heart are rerouted to create the bypass. Typically, the saphenous vein from the leg and the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) are used for the bypass. Veins used either have their valves removed or are turned around so that the valves in them do not occlude blood flow in the graft. LIMA grafts are longer-lasting than vein grafts, both because the artery is more robust than a vein and because, being already connected to the aorta, the LIMA need only be grafted at one end. For this reason, the LIMA is usually grafted to the left anterior descending artery (LAD), which supplies the left ventricle, the part of the heart that pumps oxygenated blood around the body. Alternatively, an artery such as the radial artery from the arm, may be used in place of a vein. This is believed to prolong the life of the grafts ... [ Read More ]
Possis Medical, Inc. - Develops, manufactures and markets innovative medical products such as disposable catheters which utilize pressurized saline jets to remove blood clots, and synthetic grafts which act as substitutes for native blood vessels used in coronary artery bypass surgery. (Nasdaq: POSS).
Learn About Bypass - Information on coronary artery disease, or atherosclerosis, including information on risks, symptoms such as angina, and bypass surgery procedures.
Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at New York University - The Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery offers valve and coronary artery bypass surgery patients a range of surgical options, including minimally invasive, still heart and beating heart techniques.
St. Jude Medical Symmetry Bypass System Aortic Connector - Details on the first sutureless anastomosis device for heart bypass surgery and coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG).
Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons, Inc. - Specializing in coronary artery bypass grafts, valvular surgery, and cardiac related adult-congenital surgery.