Tag Archives: artery

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG off-pump)

Posted on by MaryO
heart with coronary arteries

heart with coronary arteries (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Before we talk about treatment, let’s start with a discussion about the human body and about your medical condition.

Your doctor has recommended that you have coronary artery bypass surgery. But what does that actually mean?

  • Your heart is located in the center of your chest.
  • It is surrounded by your rib cage and protected by your breastbone.
  • Your heart’s job is to keep blood continually circulating throughout your body.
  • The vessels that supply the body with oxygen-rich blood are called arteries.
  • The vessels that return blood to the heart are called veins.
  • Like any other muscle in the body, the heart depends on a steady supply of oxygen rich blood. The arteries that carry this blood supply to the heart muscle are called coronary arteries.
  • Sometimes, these blood vessels can narrow or become blocked by deposits of fat, cholesterol and other substances collectively known as plaque.
  • Over time, plaque deposits can narrow the vessels so much that normal blood flow is restricted. In some cases, the coronary artery becomes so narrow that the heart muscle itself is in danger.
  • Coronary bypass surgery attempts to correct this serious problem. In order to restore normal blood flow, the surgeon removes a portion of a blood vessel from the patient’s leg or chest, most probably the left internal mammary artery and the saphenous vein.
  • Your doctor uses one or both of these vessels to bypass the old, diseased coronary artery and to build a new pathway for blood to reach the heart muscle.
  • These transplanted vessels are called grafts and depending on your condition, your doctor may need to perform more than one coronary artery bypass graft.

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Coronary Artery Bypass (CABG) Surgery

Posted on by MaryO
Three coronary artery bypass grafts, a LIMA to...

Three coronary artery bypass grafts, a LIMA to LAD and two saphenous vein grafts – one to the right coronary artery (RCA) system and one to the obtuse marginal (OM) system. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Your doctor has recommended that you have coronary artery bypass surgery. But what does that actually mean?

Your heart is located in the center of your chest. It is surrounded by your rib cage and protected by your breastbone. Your heart’s job is to keep blood continually circulating throughout your body.
The vessels that supply the body with oxygen-rich blood are called arteries.

The vessels that return blood to the heart are called veins.
Like any other muscle in the body, the heart depends on a steady supply of oxygen rich blood. The arteries that carry this blood supply to the heart muscle are called coronary arteries.

Sometimes, these blood vessels can narrow or become blocked by deposits of fat, cholesterol and other substances collectively known as plaque.
Over time, plaque deposits can narrow the vessels so much that normal blood flow is restricted. In some cases, the coronary artery becomes so narrow that the heart muscle itself is in danger.

Coronary bypass surgery attempts to correct this serious problem. In order to restore normal blood flow, the surgeon removes a portion of a blood vessel from the patient’s leg or chest, most probably the left internal mammary artery and the saphenous vein.

Your doctor uses one or both of these vessels to bypass the old, diseased coronary artery and to build a new pathway for blood to reach the heart muscle. These transplanted vessels are called grafts and depending on your condition, your doctor may need to perform more than one coronary artery bypass graft.

Of course, operating on the heart is a complex and delicate process and in the case of bypass surgery, your doctor will most likely need to stop your heart before installing the graft.

During the time that your heart is not beating, a special machine, called a heart-lung machine, will take over the job of circulating and oxygenating your blood.

By using this machine, your doctor is able to repair the heart without interfering with the blood flow to the rest of the body.

Following surgery, your heart will be restarted and you will be disconnected from the heart-lung machine

Two Weeks After CABG

Posted on by MaryO

Sounds like a fairy tale of some kind involving veggies like cabbage, lettuce and other greenery.  But it’s not.  CABG is the abbreviation for Coronary artery bypass grafting, something I had no idea about 2 weeks ago.

CABG

DH had 3 of those grafts, the mammary artery and 2 from his leg vein.

From NIH:

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a type of surgery that improves blood flow to the heart. Surgeons use CABG to treat people who have severe coronary heart disease (CHD).

CHD is a disease in which a waxy substance called plaque (plak) builds up inside the coronary arteries. These arteries supply oxygen-rich blood to your heart.

Over time, plaque can harden or rupture (break open). Hardened plaque narrows the coronary arteries and reduces the flow of oxygen-rich blood to the heart. This can cause chest pain or discomfort called angina< (an-JI-nuh or AN-juh-nuh).

If the plaque ruptures, a blood clot can form on its surface. A large blood clot can mostly or completely block blood flow through a coronary artery. This is the most common cause of a heart attack. Over time, ruptured plaque also hardens and narrows the coronary arteries.

CABG is one treatment for CHD. During CABG, a healthy artery or vein from the body is connected, or grafted, to the blocked coronary artery. The grafted artery or vein bypasses (that is, goes around) the blocked portion of the coronary artery. This creates a new path for oxygen-rich blood to flow to the heart muscle.

Surgeons can bypass multiple coronary arteries during one surgery.

I have to say it’s amazing how quickly the body can begin to heal after such an assault.  So far, we’ve seen the surgeon’s nurse practitioner and the visiting nurse.  Both say he’s doing very well for such a short amount of time.

There’s still some pain, some coughing, and other inconveniences but it’s amazing what modern medicine can do!