Heart Surgery (Print Version)

Also called: Also called: Cardiac surgery

Each day, thousands of people in the U.S. have heart surgery. There are many different types of heart surgery. Surgeries may be used to

Repair or replace the valves that control blood flow through the heart's chambers
Bypass or widen blocked or narrowed arteries to the heart
Repair aneurysms, or bulges in the aorta, which can be deadly if they burst
Implant devices to regulate heart rhythms
Destroy small amounts of tissue that disturb electrical flow through the heart
Make channels in the heart muscle to allow blood from a heart chamber directly into the heart muscle
Boost the heart's pumping power with muscles taken from the back or abdomen
Replace the damaged heart with a heart from a donor

Start Here

Heart Surgery(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/hs/hs_whatis.html
Open Heart Surgery - What to Expect(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpect/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpectspanish/htm/index.htm
Surgery and Other Treatments(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=501

Overviews

Heart Surgery Overview(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Proced/
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Proced/index.cfm

Latest News

Beta Blockers May Cut Mortality in COPD Patients After Surgery(10/01/2008, HealthDay) - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_69940.html

Rehabilitation/Recovery

Cardiac Rehabilitation(National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/rehab/rehab_whatis.html
Cardiac Rehabilitation(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitation/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitationspanish/htm/index.htm
Cardiac Rehabilitation: Building a Better Life After Heart Disease(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/cardiac-rehabilitation/HB00017/METHOD=print
How Will I Be Monitored After Heart Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110080986884636%20HowWillMonitorAftrHrtSrg.pdf
What Happens After Heart Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110080657690951%20WhtHppnsAftrHrtSrgry.pdf
What to Expect After Heart Surgery(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/adultcardiacsurgery/heartsurgery/

Coping

Guided Imagery: Its Use in Heart Surgery and Other Procedures(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/prevention/stress/guided_imagery.aspx

Specific Conditions

Cardiomyoplasty(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4474
Maze Surgery(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Proced/mazes.cfm
Also available in Spanish http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics_Esp/Proced/mazes_span.cfm
Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4702
Transmyocardial Revascularization (TMR)(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4782
Valve Repair/Replacement(Texas Heart Institute) - http://www.texasheartinstitute.org/HIC/Topics/Proced/vsurg.cfm
What Is Heart Valve Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/110080594591338%20What%20Is%20HeartValve%20Surge.pdf

Related Issues

Alcohol and Heart Surgery(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/alcoholandsurgery.aspx
Dressler's Syndrome(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/dresslers-syndrome/DS00666/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
How Can I Prepare for Heart Surgery?(American Heart Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.americanheart.org/downloadable/heart/1120828353531%204%20ABH%20HwCnIPrepareHrtSurgery.pdf
Surgery for Infective Endocarditis(Cleveland Clinic Foundation) - http://my.clevelandclinic.org/heart/disorders/valve/sbesurgery.aspx
What Is a Thoracic Surgeon?(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/thoracicsurgeon/

Tutorials

Cardiac Rehabilitation(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitation/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/cardiacrehabilitationspanish/htm/index.htm
Open Heart Surgery - What to Expect(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpect/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/openheartsurgerywhattoexpectspanish/htm/index.htm

Videos

MedlinePlus: Surgery Videos - Webcasts of surgical procedures - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryvideos.html
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/surgeryvideos.html

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Heart Surgery(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/term=heart+%5BCONDITION%5D+AND+surgery+%5BTREATMENT%5D

Research

Surgical Residents Perform Heart Surgery as Effectively as Staff Surgeons(American Heart Association) - http://americanheart.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=526

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

Article: Epicardial ultrasonic ablation of atrial fibrillation during concomitant cardiac surgery... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18824774&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Survival after resection of primary cardiac tumors: a 48-year experience. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18824772&tool=MedlinePlus
Article: Calcium-activated potassium channels contribute to human coronary microvascular dysfunction after... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18824768&tool=MedlinePlus
Heart Surgery -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(cardiac+surgical+procedures[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh])+NOT(angioplasty[majr+OR+coronary+artery+bypass[majr]+OR+heart+transplantation[majr])+AND+(guideline[pt]+OR+clinical+trial[pt]+OR+patient+education+handout[pt]+OR+jsubsetk[text]+OR+jsubsetaim[text]+OR+jsubsetn[text])+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus

Medical Encyclopedia

Heart Surgery - http://vsearch.nlm.nih.gov/vivisimo/cgi-bin/query-meta?v:project=medlineplus&binning-state=group%3d%3dMedical%20Encyclopedia&query=Heart+Surgery

Dictionaries/Glossaries

Cardiac Glossary(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=3038158
Deciphering Heart Disease Medspeak(Medical Library Association) - Links to PDF - http://www.mlanet.org/pdf/heart-disease1.pdf
Heart Surgery Terms(Society of Thoracic Surgeons) - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/otherresources/heartsurgterms/

Organizations

American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=1200000
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
Society of Thoracic Surgeons - http://www.sts.org/sections/patientinformation/

Statistics

Open-Heart Surgery Statistics(American Heart Association) - http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4674

Women

Heart Surgery Options(Women's Heart Foundation) - http://www.womensheart.org/content/HeartSurgery/heart_surgery_options.asp

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

Angioplasty - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/angioplasty.html
Congenital Heart Defects - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/congenitalheartdefects.html
Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/coronaryarterybypasssurgery.html
Heart Attack - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartattack.html
Heart Diseases - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseases.html
Heart Failure - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartfailure.html
Heart Transplantation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/hearttransplantation.html
Heart Valve Diseases - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartvalvediseases.html
Pacemakers and Implantable Defibrillators - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pacemakersandimplantabledefibrillators.html
Blood, Heart and Circulation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/bloodheartandcirculation.html
Surgery and Rehabilitation - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/surgeryandrehabilitation.html

The primary NIH organization for research on Heart Surgery is the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute - http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/