Cardiac Surgery

If you require cardiac surgery, the Glendale Adventist Heart & Vascular Institute gives you and your physician outstanding options for both coronary artery bypass and valve replacement. Our surgical team-including surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and technicians-provide expert and compassionate care before, during and after surgery. Our new surgical suites use technology that is among the most advanced in all of Los Angeles. 

Recently reported data from the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development show that more people are choosing to have their heart bypass at Glendale Adventist. We believe this is true because quality outcomes drive patient choice.

The following information describes our range of services. Your cardiologist will help you determine which options will serve your particular needs best.

Bypass Surgery with Heart-Lung Machine

One time-proven approach to the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedure utilizes a heart-lung machine that circulates blood throughout your body while your heart is stopped for repair. During the procedure, a surgeon removes a blood vessel from one part of your body---typically the saphenous vein of the leg---and grafts it into one or more of the arteries of your heart to bypass a blocked artery.

Beating Heart Surgery

Beating heart surgery, also known as off-pump coronary artery bypass, is a new procedure that eliminates some of the side-effects of conventional bypass surgery with a heart-lung machine.

The two most outstanding features of beating heart surgery are:

• Elimination of the heart-lung machine, which pumps blood for the patient while the heart is stopped in conventional open-heart surgery
• Typically quicker recovery than with conventional open-heart surgery

The key to the success of beating heart surgery-and the element that eliminates the need for the heart-lung machine-is a less-invasive type of surgery. Since surgeons can work in a very small, localized section of the heart, the entire heart no longer has to be stopped to perform surgery.

Instead, only the area that is the focus of the surgery is stabilized by specialized instruments, while the rest of the heart is allowed to function normally. As a result, the body endures significantly less trauma than with conventional open heart surgery that uses a heart-lung machine.

The potential benefits to patients are many, including:

• Fewer blood transfusions and medications
• Shorter recovery time
• Fewer potential neurological complications, including stroke
• Shorter stay in intensive care following surgery, as well as shorter overall hospital stay

Endoscopic Vein Harvesting

The leg incision that normally is made to remove the vein used in open heart bypass surgery can often make recovery even more painful and complicated. Now, thanks to a technique available at Glendale Adventist, much of that problem has been resolved.

Endoscopic vein harvesting is a revolutionary procedure that uses an endoscope-a long, flexible tube with a miniature camera attached-to locate the saphenous vein in the leg. Then other small instruments are inserted to detach and remove the vein. All of this is accomplished through two or three small incisions in the leg, averaging only about 1/2-inch each.

The benefits of endoscopic vein harvesting are numerous, including:

• Less leg pain than with the conventional method of removing the vein
• Minimal drainage in the leg incision
• Reduced incidence of infection
• Ability to walk sooner and more easily
• Small, almost invisible, scar

The procedure is especially beneficial for diabetics, who are particularly susceptible to wound infection.

Almost all bypass patients can take advantage of endoscopic vein harvesting. If you are scheduled for a heart bypass, talk with your surgeon about this outstanding option.

Valve Replacement Surgery

If one of the valves that control the flow of blood through your heart becomes damaged or dysfunctional, your cardiologist may recommend surgery to repair or replace the valve.

From the patient's perspective, this surgery is similar in many ways to conventional coronary artery bypass surgery. One of the main similarities is the fact that a heart-lung machine will circulate blood for you while your heart is stopped for repair.

Your cardiologist or cardiac surgeon will give you more information about this procedure and your options.

Click here to download our Health Connections brochure entitled, "Understanding Peripheral Arterial Bypass Surgery".

Click here to download our Health Connections brochure entitled, "Understanding Heart Valve Surgery".

Click here to download our Health Connections brochure entitled, "Understanding Coronary Bypass Surgery".