A good diet after open heart surgery is one that follows the dietary guidelines your doctor or dietitian specifies for your condition. Dietary guidelines may vary depending on your overall health and specific calorie needs, but there is some...
Diabetic patients who are undergoing open heart surgery frequently require insulin infusions to maintain regular blood sugar levels. Like other types of cardiovascular surgery, open heart surgery can instigate a variety of metabolic changes, such...
Open heart surgery is any kind of operation in which the heart is exposed through an incision in the chest. The most common open heart surgery in the United States is coronary artery bypass grafting, or CABG. One of the most serious complications...
Open heart surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft or CABG, saves the lives of millions of Americans annually. Not without risk, this life-saving surgery can lead to post-surgical complications such as congestive heart failure, or CHF....
Congenital heart disease describes a defect in the structure of the heart or its vessels that occurs during fetal development. Congenital heart disease can be either mild or severe, and treatment options depend on the type and severity of the...
Atrial septal defect is a congenital heart defect, meaning a defect present at birth. A hole between the atria, the upper chambers of the heart, allows blood from the left atrium to flow into the right side of the heart and to the lungs. The...
According to the Texas Heart Institute, thousands of heart surgeries are performed in the United States daily. Modern heart surgery techniques now include the ability to operate on a heart without stopping it, and new, robotic-assisted techniques...
Recovering from open heart bypass surgery involves a lot of relaxing and recuperating initially, but when it's finally time to get back into the swing of things, it's wise not to rush. This invasive surgery involves opening up the chest, which can...
Patent ductus arteriosus, or PDA, is a condition in which the ductus arteriosus does not close normally, according to MedlinePlus. The ductus arteriosus is a small blood vessel in the heart of an unborn baby that allows blood to bypass the lungs....
According to the American Heart Association, in 2006 alone, over 81 million Americans were diagnosed with heart disease. Heart attacks are no longer the disease of the elderly and cause one out of every three deaths, per the American Heart...
All cardiac surgeries require a hospitalization; the length is dependent upon the type of surgery performed. Cardiac surgeries include everything from angioplasty to open heart surgery. The term hospital precautions refers to a set of rules that...
Heart disease is a relatively common health condition that affected more than 80 million Americans in 2006, according to the American Heart Association. One of the risk factors is hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis. Plaque builds up on...
An artificial device may be implanted to regulate the heart rhythm, according to the American Heart Association. A heart rhythm can be too fat, too slow or irregular, causing an insufficient amount of blood and oxygen to reach the body. Deficient...
Heart bypass surgery or coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is commonly known as open-heart surgery. Typically, people with coronary artery disease in which vessels of the heart are blocked with hard build-up, called plaque, require heart bypass...
Believe it or not, cholesterol isn't bad. Some of it is necessary for your body to function. When cholesterol levels are too high (or too low in the case of good cholesterol) problems occur. These aren't small problems either--they're bodily...
In 1953, Dr. John Gibson performed the first successful open heart surgery with the assistance of a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. Since then, advances in heart bypass surgery continue daily. Some of the advances are in the form of tools and...
According the American Heart Association, heart bypass surgery or coronary bypass surgery treats blocked heart arteries. In this procedure doctors create a new passage for blood flow to a patient's heart. Veins of arteries from other parts of the...
Treadmills are excellent for general cardiovascular fitness: building a strong heart and lungs. Even people who have had open-heart surgery, when appropriate, are given heart monitors and instructed to walk on a treadmill to regain cardiovascular...
According to the American Heart Association, coronary artery bypass graft surgery is a useful tool in treating patients who have significant narrowing and blockages in the coronary arteries. During the operation, doctors use blood vessels from the...
Coronary artery bypass grafting is an open-heart surgical procedure by which a healthy vein or artery from the body is connected to a blocked artery in the heart, bypassing the blocked portion and facilitating improved blood flow to heart muscle....
Congenital cardiovascular defects, or heart conditions, occur in approximately one percent of live births, according to the American Heart Association. If your baby was born with a heart condition, she may have a hole in part of her heart, blood...
Recovery from open heart surgery usually takes about six to eight weeks, according to the Cleveland Clinic website. During this time, you need to take special care of your incision and sternum as it heals. This means limiting your activity and...
During open heart surgery, the breastbone, or sternum is cracked open to provide access for the doctors to get to your heart. Following the procedure, wires are used to sew the bone back together. During the initial healing process, patients have...
An implantable cardio defibrillator, or ICD, is a small electrical impulse generator. The ICD is traditionally used in patients who are at risk for serious cardiac attacks which can lead to sudden cardiac death. These attacks, ventricular...
The heart functions to pump blood to and from the lungs to receive oxygen and then pump the oxygenated blood through the body. Blood flows through the four chambers of the heart through heart valves that open and close as the chambers contract and...
Recovering from heart surgery is a long process requiring patience and dedication. The idea of exercising after such major surgery can be scary, but studies have shown that a regular routine of activities such as walking is an effective way to...
As the Surgery Encyclopedia explains, the purpose of a heart and lung machine is to allow the body to survive while the heart is stopped. The heart needs to be stopped for some kinds of surgery, including coronary bypass surgery, open heart...
Carnitine helps your body convert fat into energy. It's stored in your muscles, brain, sperm and heart. Your body usually makes all of this nutrient it needs. However, there are times when supplemental L-carnitine may be helpful, such as after...
An anticoagulant drug is one that helps prevent clotting or coagulation of the blood. Anticoagulants are often known as blood thinners, although they do not actually make the blood thinner but decrease the blood's ability to clot. Anticoagulants...
Coronary artery disease, or coronary heart disease, is the end result of the heart muscle losing nutrients due to blockage in blood vessels of the heart. Learn more about coronary heart disease, including warning signs and treatments in this video.
Mitral stenosis is a vavular heart disease denoting the narrowing of the heart's mitral valve. Learn more about mitral stenosis and the heart in this health video.