Surgery Notes

Archive for the ‘Cardiovascular Surgery’ Category

Today more than ever to choose your Plastic Surgeon is a task that must be done carefully because it is a final decision which may depend as much the result you are looking to their personal safety. In recent years it has documented a rise of cosmetic surgeons dedicated to perform plastic surgery, cosmetic, many of whom have no formal surgical training and base their practice on short courses of several weeks or months (including general practitioners can be found Some specialists in various areas such as gynecologists, some dentists and others).

There are several factors to consider in choosing a qualified and competent plastic surgeon. The most important is the certification of graduate degree in General Surgery and Reconstructive and Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, as these certifications verify and certify that the physician has been prepared and fully trained in the specialty of General Surgery which is prerequisite in all countries access to subspecialty of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery and has passed rigorous oral and written exams to become a specialist. In Spain, the possession of Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine and Surgery legally empowered to perform any medical or surgical procedure. However, it is clear that various branches of medicine and surgery require a graduate to reach the level of knowledge and experience in each of these disciplines.

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The heart can be defined as a muscular pump about the size of a fist that pumps blood continuously distributed throughout the body. It is composed of four compartments or chambers, two atria or receiving chambers and two ventricles, or chambers of expulsion. Each ventricle has an inlet valve or inlet and an outlet valve.

The right atrium connects to the right ventricle through the tricuspid valve and right ventricular outflow tract is the pulmonary valve. The venous blood throughout the body, with little oxygen reaches the right atrium and is pumped by the right ventricle to the lungs that can breathe and become blood pressure, oxygen-rich red.

The left atrium connects to the left ventricle through the mitral valve and left ventricular outflow is the aortic valve. The oxygenated blood in the lungs reaches the left atrium and is pumped at high pressure into the left ventricle to the aorta artery with all its branches to irrigate and oxygenate the entire body.

The heart valve problems are usually, in most cases, caused by congenital defects, changes caused by rheumatic fever, infections, or their own degeneration and tissue wasting with age. Read the rest of this entry »

Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty that deals with the correction of any process congenital, acquired, or simply tumor involution, requiring repair or replacement, or affecting the shape and / or body function. Their techniques are based on the transplantation and tissue mobilization using grafts and flaps or implants of inert material. The Reconstructive Plastic Surgery aims to restore or improve function and appearance in injuries and burns caused by accidents, diseases and tumors of the skin and supporting tissues and congenital anomalies, mainly of the face, hands and genitals.

The Plastic Surgery Aesthetics , however, deals with generally healthy patients and is designed to correct abnormalities of the aesthetic norm in order to get a more harmonious facial and body or the consequences caused by aging. This affects the emotional stability by improving the quality of life through professional relationships, emotional, and so on.

Although the motivation to undergo cosmetic surgery is very personal, there are external factors that undoubtedly influence. Such, for example, the current direction of our society towards the youth and in which a young and dynamic appearance is essential to compete on an equal footing professionals. Read the rest of this entry »

The history of service dating back to the early 1970′s with the return to Argentina from Dr. Rene G. Favaloro. Since then the team of cardiovascular surgery has gained significant experience. The first surgical procedure of the Cardiovascular Institute of Cardiology (ICYCC) Favaloro Foundation was held on June 20, 1992 and since then there have been over 20,000. Favaloro Foundation Cardiovascular Surgery Center is the most important in Argentina and is recognized as one of the best in Latin America and the world.

The Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of our institution has pioneered numerous surgical techniques and the formation of cardiovascular surgeons in Argentina, Latin America and many countries around the world.

While the complexity of patients requiring cardiovascular surgery has increased in recent years, either because they exceed 70 years or because they received other procedures before-the mortality rate of the Favaloro Foundation remained below 3% over all these years.

Surgical outcomes are the result of teamwork of surgeons, cardiologists , anesthesiologists, nurses and all staff of the Favaloro Foundation with the support of advanced technology, which allows a correct indication of treatment, the realization of highly complex procedures and optimal postoperative care. Read the rest of this entry »

They perform thousands of heart surgery every day in the United States. Only in 2006, there were almost 450,000 coronary bypass procedures. And while there is a shortage of donor organs, in 2008 more than 2,100 people received heart transplants.

Years ago, many doctors thought that heart surgery was a dream. During the Second World War, surgeons had learned to operate on the heart but could not implement what they learned it was difficult to operate a beating heart and moving. Furthermore, it was possible to stop the heart for more than a few minutes without causing brain damage.

Two major advances in medicine made possible the surgery:
- The bypass machine, which assumes the functions of the heart.
- Body cooling techniques, which allow prolong the surgery without brain damage.

What is lung machine?
The bypass machine is also called cardiopulmonary bypass machine. Heart function takes charge of the pumping and oxygenating the blood. Thus, the heart remains stationary during operation, which is necessary to open the heart (heart surgery). As lung machine takes over the functions of the heart, surgeons can operate a heart that does not move or full of blood.

When the patient is connected to a bypass machine, it performs the same functions they would take the heart and lungs. The machine carries blood from the upper right heart chamber (right atrium) to a special container called “oxygen”. Within oxygenator bubbles of oxygen are mixed with blood and placed in red blood cells. This causes the blood changes from dark red (oxygen-poor) to red (oxygen-rich). Then, a filter removes air bubbles from the oxygen-rich blood and the blood goes through a plastic tube up to the main conduit for blood from the body (the aorta). From the aorta, the blood around the body.

The bypass machine can replace the functions of the heart and lungs for several hours. A trained technicians called ‘perfusion’ (specialists in blood flow) to ensure that the machine works properly during surgery. However, surgeons try to limit the time patients remain connected to the machine.

Cardiovascular surgeons operate the heart and blood vessels to repair the damage caused by disease or cardiovascular disorders. The cardiovascular surgeons from Texas Heart Institute (THI) appear in the professional staff directory.

Many times, a diagnosis of heart disease begins with the primary care physician, who refers the patient to a cardiologist. If the cardiologist decides that surgery is necessary, refer the patient to a cardiovascular surgeon, who happens to be a new member of the patient’s cardiac team. (Even after heart surgery, the patient remains under the care of cardiologist.)

Cardiovascular surgeons perform many different types of operations , including repair and valve replacement, repair of heart defects, coronary bypass, repair of aneurysms, transmyocardial laser revascularization and heart transplants. Also operates the blood vessels including the aorta is the main source of blood supply to the body. Cardiac surgery today also may include the use or implementation of ventricular assist devices (VADs), mechanical devices that provide “assistance” to the failing heart, helping it pump blood throughout the body.

For information about other members of the surgical team, see cardiovascular anesthesiologist and perfectionist.

Cardiovascular Surgeons of Texas Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital are at the forefront of research efforts designed to advance continuously the treatment of diseases and vascular heart. See Summary of Research (Research Summary) in THI (in English). Find examples of our historic innovations in Surgical Innovations at THI.

The requirement for an open heart operation is thus the use of heart-lung machine, also called extracorporeal circulation or cardiopulmonary bypass, which is operated by a specially trained perfusionist. The device consists of several elements (oxygenator, roller pump, heat exchangers, filters, etc.) and a hose system that is connected with the patient. The HLM considers the circulation of the patient remain intact until the surgery was completed at the relevant cardiac structure.