Cardiac Anesthesia
CORONARY REVASCULARIZATION Print Section Listen Coronary Artery Disease, Surgical Revascularization, and Myocardial Oxygen Supply: Demand Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for 600,000…
Temporary Mechanical Circulatory Support
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen A number of ventricular assist devices (VADs) are available for acute circulatory support. As opposed to long-term VADs, which are designed primarily for bridge to transplantation…
Myocardial Protection
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Myocardial protection in the operating room refers to strategies and methods used to attenuate or prevent perioperative infarction and/or postischemic ventricular dysfunction. In the setting of…
Simulation in Cardiac Surgery
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Of the many developments in cardiothoracic surgery, the introduction of a broad spectrum of simulation techniques for education and training of students and residents as well…
Deep Hypothermic Circulatory Arrest
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Surgical therapy for aortic arch disease involves partial or complete replacement of the arch with great vessel reimplantation during a period of time when native cerebral…
Transfusion Therapy and Blood Conservation
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Concurrent with the development of cardiac surgery in the 1950s as a means of correcting congenital heart defects came the need for large-volume blood transfusions. In…
Preoperative Evaluation for Cardiac Surgery
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Advances in surgical techniques and improved patient outcomes have enabled the application of cardiac surgery in patient populations previously considered ineligible for an intervention of this…
Risk Assessment and Performance Improvement in Cardiac Surgery
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Assessing risk to improve outcomes is not a new principle. Formal assessment of patient care to improve outcomes dates back millennia. While it may be hard…
The Integrated Cardiovascular Center
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen Cardiovascular care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease includes pathology of the heart and the peripheral vasculature. It remains the number…
Surgical Anatomy of the Heart
INTRODUCTION Print Section Listen A thorough knowledge of the anatomy of the heart is a prerequisite for the successful completion of the myriad procedures performed by the cardiothoracic surgeon. This…
