Heart Surgery

Many types of heart procedures have been developed to treat various cardiovascular conditions. Depending on your condition and your anatomy, procedures may be performed open, minimally invasive, or robotic. Our surgeons perform many complex heart procedures, including:

Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG, pronounced “cabbage”), also known as heart bypass surgery, is the most common heart surgery, with some 200,000 CABG procedures performed in the U.S. each year. CABG uses healthy blood vessel(s) to bypass the blocked part of the coronary artery(ies) to create normal blood flow to the heart.

MedStar Health’s cardiac surgeons perform nearly half of CABG procedures as off-pump bypass surgery, also known as beating-heart bypass, by utilizing special tools to stabilize a portion of the heart to allow it to keep beating while bypassing the blocked artery.

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Heart valve repair or replacement

Heart valve surgery is a procedure to treat heart valve disease. The expert surgeons in our Structural Heart and Valvular Disease Program use advanced, minimally invasive methods to repair or replace heart valves that are not working correctly and to improve heart valve function. Your cardiac surgeon may recommend one of the following surgeries, depending on your pathology and what is causing the problem:

• Aortic valve repair and replacement, including transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)
• Mitral valve disease treatments, including the MitraClip® procedure and mitral valvuloplasty
• Procedures to treat tricuspid valve disease, including tricuspid valve surgery and transcather tricuspid valve replacement
• Percutaneous valve treatments
• Procedures to treat pulmonary valve disease, including pulmonary valve repair and replacement and balloon valvuloplasty

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Aneurysm repair

An aneurysm is defined as a bulge or "ballooning" (enlarging and thinning) of a weakened area of a blood vessel. While small aneurysms can be managed with medication and regular monitoring, larger aneurysms or those causing pain or other symptoms may need surgery to prevent the blood vessel from rupturing. The experts in our Vascular and Endovascular Program and our Cardiac Surgery Program treat all types of aneurysms and offer particular expertise for challenging cases. Your surgeon may recommend one of the following aneurysm repair procedures:

• Endovascular repair
• Traditional open aneurysm surgery
• Hybrid aneurysm repair

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Insertion of cardiac devices to restore heart rhythm

Many heart arrhythmias, also known as heart rhythm disorders, do not require treatment at all. However, if you are experiencing significant symptoms or if you are at risk for developing more serious heart conditions due to your arrhythmia, your doctor may recommend an implantable device for ongoing control of your heart rhythm condition, including:

• Pacemaker, which is used primarily to treat heart rhythms that are too slow
• Biventricular pacemaker, used in cardiac resynchronization therapy to keep the heart’s chambers pumping together in patients with heart failure.
• Implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs), which monitor your heart for fast or irregular heartbeats and treat them to restore a normal heartbeat.

Learn More About Arrhythmia Treatments

Surgical treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib)

Atrial fibrillation, or AFib, is the most common type of arrhythmia. The goal of AFib treatment is to limit symptoms through heart rate control or efforts to reset the heart’s rhythm. If medication and lifestyle management cannot control your AFib, your physician may recommend a surgical procedure that creates a pattern, or maze, of scar tissue in the heart to disrupt faulty electrical signals causing your abnormal heart rhythm. Two types of surgical procedures designed to treat abnormal heart rhythm are:

Convergent Procedure for Atrial Fibrillation (Hybrid Procedure) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure where the cardiac surgeon makes a small chest incision and creates scar tissue on the exterior of the epicardium. An electrophysiologist then inserts a device through the arm or groin to perform a catheter ablation on the interior of the epicardium.

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Heart Surgery for Atrial Fibrillation (MAZE) is an open-heart surgery procedure where the chest is opened, and the patient is put on a heart-lung machine. The surgeon will create a pattern of scar tissue using a scalpel or a cardiac ablation device.

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Surgical procedures for heart failure

More serious cases of heart failure may need advanced treatment, including surgery. The expert surgeons in our Advanced Heart Failure Program are renowned for their innovations to improve surgical treatment options and quality of care for heart failure patients. Your doctor will work with you find the best surgical options for your condition. Types of heart failure surgery include:

• Implantation of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), which helps circulate the blood with a small pump
• Heart transplant, the replacement of a severely diseased heart with a healthier one
• Placement of devices such as implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) or pacemakers may be used to regulate or start your heart using electrical pulses.
• Coronary artery bypass surgery (CABG)
• Heart valve surgery

Learn More About Heart Failure Treatments and Surgery

Septal myectomy

Septal myectomy is the surgical removal of excess heart muscle. Your doctor may recommend this procedure if you have been diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and medication or less invasive treatments have not relieved your symptoms.

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Aortic dissection surgery

Aortic dissection is a serious and sometimes fatal condition, but the vascular and cardiac surgery experts in our Complex Aortic Center work together to repair even the most complex tears to the lining of the aorta, including a minimally invasive approach called endovascular repair.

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Robotic heart surgery

Robotic cardiac surgery is an innovative approach that incorporates the latest minimally invasive surgical techniques for low- and high-risk patients diagnosed with mitral and tricuspid valve conditions, atrial fibrillation, and cardiac tumors.

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Minimally invasive heart surgery

The experts in our Cardiac Surgery Program are trained in a full range of minimally invasive procedures, which allow for smaller incisions, lower risks of complications, and shorter recovery time.

Learn More About Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery