Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the most common cause of death and heart problems in the
United States. CAD is a process where the small arteries bringing nutrient blood flow to the
heart muscle become clogged with cholesterol build-up (known as "plaque"). If the blockages
get too tight, chest pains ("angina"), heart attacks, rhythm disturbances, congestive heart
failure (CHF) and eventually death can occur.
Most patients with CAD can have the problem corrected using balloons and stents. These
procedures do not require an incision in the body and can be performed by a cardiologist as an
outpatient. However, in some patients, stents do not work well and "bypass" surgery is the best
treatment. In addition, some modern studies have shown that surgery provides a longer lasting
solution with fewer repeat procedures than balloons or stents.
Bypass surgery has been available since 1970. The most common (or "traditional") method for
performing heart bypass surgery involves:
Making a 12 inch incision in the front of the chest
Dividing the breast bone
Temporary stoppage of the heart while the surgeon performs the microsurgery on the
coronary artieries
Pumping the patients blood using a "heart-lung" machine while the heart is stopped.
Using mostly vein segments from the leg to reconstruct the blocked heart arteries.
Since 1995, surgeons and industry have been working hard to develop less invasive methods to
perform heart bypass surgery. Recently, Dr. Mark Levinson from Hutchinson, Kansas has
developed an advanced method for performing less invasive bypass surgery using a 4 inch
incision in the upper abdominal area. This method is called "Subxiphoid" bypass surgery.
Since Dr. Levinson uses mostly arteries for the bypass material (instead of leg veins), the formal
name for his surgery is "Subxiphoid Multi-Arterial Bypass Surgery".
NewOptionsInHeartSurgery.com provides a full description of this ground-breaking procedure.
Follow the links below to review the history, surgical technique, and current results of
Subxiphoid Multi-Arterial Bypass Surgery.
Current Results
