Cardiothoracic Surgery Services

Cardiomyoplasty
Cardiomyoplasty is a surgical procedure performed at Deborah for patients with moderately advanced congestive heart failure. This procedure is still classified as "experimental" and is currently being performed only at a select number of well-established heart centers throughout the country.

Cardiomyoplasty involves wrapping skeletal muscle from the back around the heart, and stimulating the muscle to contract simultaneously with the heart. To prepare the skeletal muscle to act like heart muscle, the skeletal muscle is electrically stimulated to contract continuously via a pulse generator which is implanted near the abdomen. The skeletal muscle eventually becomes resistant to fatigue.

Minimally Invasive Procedures

Direct Coronary Artery Bypass (MIDCAB)
Deborah cardiac surgeons are currently performing Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass (MIDCAB) surgery. This exciting new procedure allows coronary revascularization to be performed in select cases with a limited sternotomy incision and without the use of the heart-lung machine. This eliminates most morbidity associated with traditional coronary artery surgery, while maintaining the impressive durability seen when the internal mammary artery is used as a bypass conduit.

Minimally Invasive Valve Surgery
Surgeons at Deborah can repair or replace both the mitral and aortic valves by applying a minimally invasive technique. Instead of a sternotomy, a smaller incision is used to expose and access the heart. Once the heart is exposed, the surgeon performs a valve replacement or repair, using the standard method for repairing or replacing a dysfunctional valve.

Videoscopic Vein Harvesting
Deborah surgeons also offer videoscopic saphenous vein harvesting, a minimally invasive technique to remove the saphenous vein for bypass surgery.

Adult Congenital Heart Surgery
Over the last ten years, the cardiac surgery service at Deborah has performed hundreds of surgeries on adult patients with congenital heart anomalies. Previous cardiac surgery had been performed in approximately 25 percent of these patients. The complex operative procedures that were required were performed with approximately a two percent operative mortality. Congenital heart disease may not be detected until adulthood, but early diagnosis and surgical repair of symptomatic patients is recommended, as satisfactory outcomes can be anticipated.