Definition
Heart , also known as coronary artery bypass surgeries or coronary artery bypass grafts (CABGs), allow your surgeon to create another pathway around obstructed coronary arteries by grafting new blood vessels in their place. She may use veins or arteries from your chest, leg or arm during the procedure. Typically, the surgeon replaces three or four coronary arteries at one time in a procedure known as triple or quadruple bypass.
During a heart bypass procedure, a heart-lung machine is used to stop from beating, create a bloodless field for the surgeon and divert the flow of blood until the new bypass is in place. The heart-lung machine, also called a pump, takes over from your own heart and lungs by pumping oxygenated blood throughout your body.
How Heart Bypass Works
The coronary arteries are blood vessels that cover the surface of the heart and supply oxygen and nutrients to the smooth muscle of the heart. disease (CAD), otherwise known as ischemic heart disease, leaves deposits known as plaque on the walls of those blood vessels. Over time, a can become either partly or totally blocked, slowing down or even stopping the supply of blood to the area of heart muscle it serves. When you exercise or exert yourself in other ways, you need more oxygen-rich blood to flow to your heart. When a coronary artery is damaged and can't provide that blood, you may have chest pain and shortness of breath. If the lack of oxygen is significant enough or lasts long enough, you may have a myocardial infarction, or heart attack.
Heart bypass procedures allow the surgeon to use blood vessels from elsewhere in your body to create new routes for blood to flow to the damaged heart tissue. Instead of relying on the obstructed coronary artery for nutrients and oxygen, the heart muscle receives them through the new blood vessel. The damaged cells don't heal, but a successful heart bypass procedure will improve your quality of life and facilitate a more active lifestyle.
Keeping Your Heart Healthy
While heart bypass procedures do a good job of providing oxygenated blood to previously-damaged parts of the heart, they don't correct the underlying problem. There are a number of modifiable lifestyle factors that can impact your risk for repeated coronary artery obstructions. To help keep your coronary arteries healthy and avoid further heart bypass surgery, stick to a heart-healthy diet and get regular aerobic exercise. Also eliminate CAD risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, high blood glucose and high cholesterol.
Tags: coronary artery, blood vessels, coronary arteries, bypass procedures, your heart, artery bypass, blood flow