Advanced Heart Surgery


Less Blood Loss With Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery

There are many benefits to minimally invasive heart surgery, including shorter recovery time, a lower risk of infection, reduced trauma, reduced pain, almost invisible scars, and less blood loss. There are methods so advanced, that we can eliminate the need for blood transfusions. For people with concerns over blood transfusions, such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, this is potentially life-saving! Dr. Ciuffo is the Director of the Minimally Invasive and Bloodless Heart Surgery program at Mercy Medical Center, so you know that you will be in the absolute best hands with him. Blood Saving Techniques To minimize blood loss, Dr. Ciuffo employs special techniques. These techniques reduce the risk of excessive bleeding during surgery and post-operatively. Surgery is performed through a tiny 2″ incision in the side Use of the heart-lung machine to keep the entire blood volume in circulation Use of beating heart surgery when necessary Use of cell saver/blood salvage machine Removing some of the patient’s blood before surgery and stored until after surgery* Careful cell recycling of blood that is transferred to surgical gauze sponges Controlled surface bleeding with topical hemostatic agents Dilution of blood volume with a saline solution The patient kept with low blood pressure through surgery Intra-operative electro-cautery or argon beam blood vessel coagulation *This method is not used for Jehovah’s Witnesses as blood needs to be stored Schedule A Consultation With Dr. Ciuffo If you or someone who love is in need of heart surgery and considering our low-impact, soft touch approach, get in touch with Dr. Ciuffo today. Our team of experts can help you understand the benefits (and the risks) associated with this surgery...

Inoperable Heart Condition

If you have a high risk heart condition, your local doctor may say your case is inoperable. This may simply be because your local doctor doesn’t know about new, specialty techniques available out there. It is extremely important for anyone who has been diagnosed as high risk or inoperable to get a second opinion. Dr. Giovanni Ciuffo is well versed and experienced in creating solutions for all types of heart conditions. Inoperable Diagnosis After your diagnosis, ask your local cardiologist and heart surgeon why you’ve been diagnosed this way. Write down their answers. An expert in high risk cardiac cases can often handle many risk factors with excellent results These successful techniques may not be available in your area. There may be outside problems that are stopping your local doctor. For instance, bad lungs may be blamed for symptoms related to the heart condition. Fixing the heart condition might reverse these symptoms enough to save a patient and restore quality of life. Patients also need to ask about their chances without surgery. Some surgeons neglect to tell patients that going without surgery is significantly riskier than the surgery to fix it. It is important to know this to help you make the right choice and consider a second opinion. Obtain copies of all your imaging studies (i.e.: CAT scans, Echocardiograms, Left Heart Catheterizations, Stress Tests, MRI’s) and medical reports. Contact a center with expertise in high risk and inoperable heart surgery cases and request an evaluation of your case. Request A Second Opinion If you’ve been diagnosed as inoperable, please know that this is not final. Dr. Ciuffo works with many high risk patients every day to...

Advanced Heart Surgery

Advanced heart surgery techniques continue to shape and evolve our cardiac specialty, giving patients more options and better results than traditional surgery. Dr. Ciuffo uses highly sophisticated and effective minimally invasive techniques to treat heart disease very effectively! The minimally invasive heart surgery approach is low impact and virtually scarless, giving even the most frail patients an option. Our patients’ heart surgery experience and postoperative recovery is quick and easy compared to the traditional open heart surgery methods. The benefits of Dr. Ciuffo’s minimally invasive procedures include low impact surgery, no broken bones, a quicker recovery, improved quality of life, as well as an almost invisible scar. Advanced Heart Surgery Procedures Dr. Ciuffo performs a wide variety of cardiac procedures, to meet the unique needs of the world. There are many patients who travel the globe in order to receive his life saving care. Some of our top procedures include: “Inoperable” Aortic Aneurysms (NOT inoperable!) Bloodless Heart Surgery Minimally Invasive Atrial Septal Defect (ASD) Repair Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery All Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery Procedures If you don’t see what you need, that doesn’t mean that Dr. Ciuffo can’t help you. His ongoing research and the continued evolution of advanced heart surgery and minimally invasive techniques show new options every day. Talk With Dr. Ciuffo Dr. Ciuffo is an expert in high risk, inoperable, and advanced heart surgery cases. He can evaluate your case and handle risk factors with our bloodless and minimally invasive techniques with excellent results, that are simply not available or not even known about at your local doctor’s office. Request your second opinion. Don’t let an...