by DrCiuffo | Nov 3, 2016 | Blog
Coronary heart disease causes plaque to build up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart. To fix this problem, doctors perform a coronary bypass operation. This procedure connects a vein or an arterial graft to the aorta and a spot on the coronary artery downstream from where the blockage is. There are several reasons as to why your coronary disease could be deemed “inoperable:” The Aorta Could Be Heavily Calcified Instead of using the aorta, Dr. Ciuffo will connect to the left and right internal mammary arteries. These vessels run along the chest wall and are already hooked up to the general circulation through the subclavian arteries in the shoulders. This method avoids the need to use the aorta as the hook up to the veins. A beating heart surgery technique can be used to perform the bypass operation without using the heart-lung machine or any clamp across the aorta. There Are Not Enough Conduits or Veins to Work With There are several grafting options to help in this situation. Dr. Ciuffo can harvest conduits from the arms, the back of the legs, the abdominal wall, the peritoneal cavity, and the chest wall. Another option is to thaw out human cryopreserved saphenous veins from tissue banks. Every coronary case is different and should be carefully evaluated by a medical professional to see if a technical option is available to help an individual patient. The Coronary Vessels Are Too Severely and Diffusely Diseased If a coronary vessel has multiple blockages, double grafting can be performed on individual vessels. If the entire length of the coronary...
