Cardiac surgery is a branch of surgery that deals with people suffering from cardiovascular disease who need surgical treatment.
What does a cardiac surgeon do?
A cardiac surgeon performs surgical procedures on the heart and blood vessels to repair the damage caused by diseases and disorders of the cardiovascular system, after medical treatments have proven ineffective. The specialist can perform different types of interventions on the heart and blood vessels, including implanting devices that can help the heart pump blood to the rest of the body more efficiently. In addition, the cardiac surgeon conducts heart transplant surgeries.
What diseases are treated by a cardiac surgeon?
Among the diseases and disorders often treated by a heart surgeon are valvular heart disease, congenital heart disease, aortic root aneurysm, ascending aortic aneurysm, and aortic valve sclerosis. Others include ischemic cardiomyopathy, acute mitral regurgitation, VSD postinfarction, atrial fibrillation, arrhythmias, acute aortic dissection, and angina.
What are the procedures used by a cardiac surgeon?
A cardiac surgeon can perform open-heart surgery, or less invasive approaches by performing only small incisions between the ribs. The procedures most commonly used are CABG, angioplasty, heart valve replacement, atherectomy, cardiomyoplasty, heart transplantation, radiofrequency ablation, stenting, transmyocardial revascularization, and implantation of pacemakers or other devices to assist the activity of the heart.
When should a patient visit a cardiac surgeon?
A cardiologist is the doctor who will send a patient to a cardiac surgeon. Usually a cardiologist will send a patient to a cardiac surgeon if something out of the ordinary shows up on the cardiological examination which would require a surgical procedure.
