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
