High Risk CABG
Penn Cardiac Care's High Risk CABG (coronary
artery bypass graft) Program at Penn Presbyterian was
designed for patients considered 'high-risk,'
who may have been denied treatment at other hospitals.
Through an extensive risk/benefit analysis for
each patient, our surgeons determine whether surgery
will improve long-term survival, and weigh this
against the surgical risks, taking into account
the patient's age, medical history and other medical
problems. This thorough assessment which enables
our surgeons to treat many complex cases denied
operation at other institutions. Our surgeons
are noted nationally for expertise in arterial
grafting, arterial conduits, and in re-operative
surgery.
The ability to assemble multidisciplinary teams
and the use of advanced diagnostic capabilities
set the Penn Cardiac Care High Risk CABG Program
apart from other programs in the Delaware Valley.
Our cardiothoracic surgeons utilize advanced diagnostic
capabilities, including PET, MR angiography, and
the noninvasive techniques of our echocardiography
laboratory. They also work closely with dedicated
cardiac anesthesia and critical care teams and
use high-quality clinical resources - renal medicine,
infectious disease, blood banking, to name a few
- to ensure that patients with complex cases have
the best chance of survival.
Patients with coronary artery disease and neurological
conditions also pose special challenges. Frequently
these are the patients with a history of stroke
who are at high risk of additional strokes during
or immediately after heart surgery. Our surgeons
and cardiovascular anesthesiologists have developed
perfusion techniques that reduce the risk of stroke
while the patient is on the heart-lung machine.
Second Bypass Surgery
Increasingly, patients who require second or third
bypass surgeries are being treated by Penn Cardiac
Care physicians. Typically, these surgeries occur
in those patients, who have had coronary bypass
surgery 10 to 15 years before and whose original
grafts are occluded.
Penn Cardiac Care has a high success rate for
re-operative procedures because of the high number
of cases it performs and because of the dedicated
resources and the depth of clinical experience
it has in managing these patients. Re-operations
for coronary artery bypass grafting account for
up to 10% of all coronary artery procedures performed
by Penn Cardiac Care surgeons; the success rate
is in the 97% range when these re-operations are
performed electively.
Surgeons
Clark
W. Hargrove III, MD
Rohinton
Morris, MD
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