Invasive Procedures

The most invasive procedure is Open Heart Surgery.

If diet and exercise are not effective in treating heart disease, medication is usually prescribed. If heart disease is still the cause of pain, invasive procedures are usually performed. There are several types of procedures that can be used to improve blood supply to the heart.

To find the clogged arteries, coronary arteriography (mapping of the coronary artery) is performed by using a procedure called cardiac catheterization. A doctor guides a thin plastic tube (called a catheter) through an artery in the arm or leg and leads into the coronary arteries. Then, the doctor injects a liquid dye through the catheter. Fluid visible in the X-ray dye to record the trip as it flows through the arteries. By mapping the flow of dye, the doctor identifies blocked areas. Once mapping is complete, your doctor can determine the best course of action.

One possibility is called percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), also known as angioplasty or balloon angioplasty. The doctor inserts a catheter and a guide to the blocked area of ​​arteries. Then a second catheter with a tiny balloon at the tip is passed through the first catheter. Once the tip reaches the blocked balloon, the balloon expands. This compresses the plaque build-up, widening the artery to blood flow. Finally, the balloon deflated and removed.

Another possibility is that coronary artery bypass graft surgery. A surgeon takes a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body (usually in the leg or chest wall) and use it to build a detour around the blocked coronary artery. One end of the vessel is grafted (attached) just below the blockage while the other end is grafted just above the blockage. As a result, blood can flow to the heart muscle again. In a double bypass surgery, two grafts done. In the third bypass, three grafts. Inside, four quadruple grafts.

The most radical possibility is that a heart transplant or a part of the heart is required. When healthy people die, their hearts can still be used. Patient's diseased heart is removed and a healthy donor heart is then attached. This operation is complicated because so many blood vessels must be detached and re-installed. When the operation progresses, the patient is connected to a heart-lung machine to keep their blood circulating. After surgery, there is still a risk that the patient's system may reject the new heart. Types of networks to be very suitable for transplantation to be successful. As a result, the number of transplants performed quite low.

Many patients do not survive waiting for a donor heart. Medical scientists have developed an artificial heart that can be used to keep patients alive for a short time until a donor heart becomes available. Scientists are also experimenting with animal-to-human heart transplant. In 1984, twelve-day-old baby girl, known as Baby Fae, received a seven-month baboon heart. A team of medical scientists from Loma Linda University in California conducted the operation. Although Baby Fae died twenty-one days later, the experiment provides a valuable research information for the future.