Cardiac surgery is surgery on the heart, typically to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (e.g. coronary artery bypass grafting), correct congenital heart disease, or treat valve problems created by various causes including endocarditis. A thoracic surgeon performs a mitral valve replacement at the Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, November 1990. ... The heart and lungs, from an older edition of Grays Anatomy. ... Ischaemic heart disease is a disease characterized by reduced blood supply to the heart. ... A coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) or heart bypass is a surgical procedure performed in patients with coronary artery disease (see atherosclerosis) for the relief of angina and possible improved heart muscle function. ... Cross-section of a healthy heart. ... Endocarditis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the heart, the endocardium. ...

History

The earliest operations that can be considered cardiac surgery were limited to the pericardium, and were pioneered by, among others, Francisco Romero[1], Dominique Jean Larrey, Henry Dalton, and Daniel Hale Williams. The first successful surgery on the heart itself, performed without any complications, was by Dr. Ludwig Rehn of Frankfurt, Germany, who repaired a stab wound to the right ventricle on September 7, 1896. The pericardium is a double-walled sac that contains the heart and the roots of the great vessels. ... Dominique Jean Larrey, portrait by Anne-Louis Girodet de Roussy-Trioson, beginning of 19th century. ... Dr Henry C. Dalton was professor of abdominal and clinical surgery at Marion Sims College of Medicine, now part of the School of Medicine at Washington University in St. ... Dr Daniel Hale Williams (January 18, 1856 - August 4, 1931) was an African-American surgeon. ... Skyline of Frankfurt at night is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany. ... In anatomy, a ventricle is a part of the body filled with fluid. ... September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

It was soon discovered that the repair of intracardiac pathologies necessitated a bloodless and motionless environment, which means that the heart should be stopped and by-passed by use of an extracorporeal circulation technique, hence the term of cardiopulmonary bypass. The first successful intracardiac correction of a congenital heart defect using hypothermia was performed by Dr. C. Walton Lillehei and Dr. F. John Lewis at the University of Minnesota on September 2, 1952. Dr. John Heysham Gibbon at Jefferson Medical School in Philadelphia reported in 1953 the first successful use of extracorporeal circulation by means of a pump-oxygenator, but he abandoned the method, disappointed by subsequent failures. In 1954 Dr. Lillehei realized a successful series of operations with the controlled cross-circulation technique in which the patient's mother or father was used as a 'heart-lung machine'. Dr. John W. Kirklin at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota started using a Gibbon type pump-oxygenator in a series of successful operations, and was soon followed by surgeons in various parts of the world. Extracorporeal circulation refers to pumping of blood in a circuit outside the body. ... A heart-lung machine (upper right) in a coronary artery bypass surgery. ... Hypothermia is a medical condition in which the victims core body temperature has dropped to significantly below normal and normal metabolism begins to be impaired. ... Dr. C. Walton Lillehei (October 23, 1918–July 5, 1999) is known as the Father of Open-Heart Surgery. ... John Heysham Gibbon Jr. ... The entrance to the Gonda Building in downtown Rochester. ...

Recently, however, doctors have begun to perform "beating heart surgery," a term used to describe cardiac surgey done without the aforementioned bypass pump mechanism. In these operations, the heart is beating during surgery. Some researchers believe this approach results in fewer post-operative complications (such as pumphead syndrome) and better overall results. The Heart Disease Information Center provides a summary of recent work in this area.

External links

• The American Heart Association
• "Congenital Heart Disease Surgical Corrective Procedures" - a list of surgical procedures
• The Heart Disease Information Center
• What to expect before, during and after heart surgery from Children's Hospital Heart Center, Seattle.
• Heart surgery slideshow from Children's Hospital Heart Center, Seattle. this is not relieable information[[Category:Cardiolog