Cardiac Surgery
Ohio Heart was the first group to perform a FDA-approved Robotic TMR procedure in Ohio. Click here to learn more.
Our cardiac surgeons perform the full range of heart surgery procedures. This includes new minimally invasive cardiac procedures as well as open-heart surgeries such as valve repair. Our surgeons use the latest in minimally invasive technology to provide treatment to patients who may have previously been considered too high risk for surgical intervention, or who have undergone previous and often unsuccessful open-heart surgeries in the past.
Surgical Procedures Performed Include:
• On-and-off pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery
• RFA and cryo-ablation MAZE procedures to treat atrial fibrillation
• Valve repair and replacement
• Carotid endarterectomy
• Internal mammary artery IMA graft
Minimally invasive procedures and treatments:
• Valve replacement
• Atrial Septal Defect
• Robotic TMR
• Atrial Myxoma
• Lung resections
• Nissen Furdoplication
• Lobectomy
• Heller Myotomy
• LV lead placement
• Thymectomy
• Mitral
• Sympathectomy
Valve Repair vs Replacement
Valve repair surgery is an open-heart procedure to fix a poorly functioning heart valve, often without the need for mechanical or biologic parts. Fused valve leaflets may be separated (called a commissurotomy); calcium deposits hindering valve function may be removed; pieces of floppy/weak valve leaflets may be removed (called a resection); and holes or tears in valve leaflets may be patched.
Sometimes a mechanical (synthetic/man-made) ring may be necessary to reshape and tighten the valve opening.
The most common heart valve surgically repaired is the mitral valve. The tricuspid and aortic valves may also be repaired.
Some poorly functioning heart valves require replacement. The valve may be narrowed with obstructed blood flow (called stenosis), or it may be floppy/leaky (called insufficiency). The most common heart valves surgically replaced are the mitral valve and the aortic valve.
This surgery is an open-heart procedure to remove the poorly functioning (either stenotic or Insufficient) valve, and replace it with either a mechanical (synthetic/man-made) or a tissue (biologic/from another organism) valve. The pumping and oxygenation function of the heart is taken over by a heart-lung machine during the surgery, and medications are given that briefly paralyze the heart (Cardioplegia). This way, the heart is completely at rest while the surgeon performs the replacement surgery.
Please note: Patients receiving a mechanical valve replacement will be required to take a blood-thinning medication called Coumadin (an anticoagulant) daily for life to prevent blood clots from forming on the prosthetic valve.
Our Cardiac Surgery Experts:
Geoffery A. Answini, MD, FACS
Tom D. Ivey, MD, FACC, FACS
Donald L. Mitts, MD, FACC, FACS