What are open heart surgeries? Indications for heart surgery, types of techniques. Prosthetics and plastic heart valves

Such surgical manipulations are within the competence of cardiac surgeons, and are one of the most complex in nature. Heart surgery is a last resort in the treatment of serious cardiovascular diseases, which are resorted to in order to improve the quality of life of the patient, and sometimes even save his life.

In Russia, this type of surgical intervention is not practiced as often as, for example, in America or in European countries. First of all, this is due to the cost of such treatment: not every citizen of the Russian Federation is able to pay the costs of the operation out of his own pocket.

At the same time, this branch of medicine in domestic medical institutions is constantly developing, which makes it possible for patients to receive qualified advice and assistance when applying.

When is heart surgery performed - indications and timing

The main pathologies that may require surgical intervention are:

Poor myocardial blood supply. A similar condition in medical circles is called coronary heart disease. IHD can lead to the formation of an aneurysm, extensive thrombosis. With all the described ailments, certain surgical procedures on the heart may be required.
Heart defects that have both innate and acquired nature. Many defects in the structure of the heart valve are incompatible with life. Therefore, such pathologies are diagnosed even in the prenatal period, and the operation itself is carried out in the first days of the baby's life.
Failures in the frequency, sequence and rhythm of heart contraction, - arrhythmias.

Common indications for heart surgery are the following pathological conditions:

Active deterioration of vital signs against the background of the development of underlying heart disease.
The inability of drug therapy to cope with the manifestations of the disease.
Noticeable deterioration in the functioning of the heart muscle that cannot be eliminated with medications.
advanced stage of the disease. This happens when the patient does not seek qualified help in time.

It should also be taken into account that any surgical manipulations on the heart carry a risk and are fraught with the development of a number of exacerbations in the rehabilitation period. Doctors turn to such treatment when other measures do not bring the desired effect.

In addition, heart surgery requires a comprehensive examination of the patient and careful preparation for the operation. This will ensure a successful recovery and minimize the likelihood of postoperative complications.

Based on the patient's condition, the type of surgical intervention under consideration is:

emergency. In such a situation, examination and preparation are carried out in a minimal amount, and the operation itself is carried out as soon as possible. This type of manipulation is prescribed for life-threatening conditions, when every minute counts: with aneurysm rupture, extensive myocardial infarction. Often, emergency interventions on the heart are performed on newborns with complex heart disease.
Urgent. There is time for diagnostic and preparatory measures, but not much. After receiving the results of the examination, surgical treatment of the heart disease is carried out.
planned. In some medical sources, this type of operation is called elective. After a detailed study of the patient's condition by a cardiac surgeon, a final decision is made on the need for surgical intervention. Together with the patient or his parents (when operating on a child), the exact date of the operation is agreed.

Closed and open heart surgeries - how they are performed and to whom they are prescribed

Based on the type of defect that needs to be eliminated, various methods of surgical intervention are used:

Note!

Not so long ago, a new direction in the treatment of heart defects began to be applied in cardiac surgery - X-ray surgery. In essence, they are minimally invasive - the doctor makes small incisions or punctures, and brings special instruments to the heart zone through the catheter. An access point can be, incl. and femoral vessels. Using cans, you can increase the diameter of the narrowed valve - or reduce it by opening the patch (its design is similar to an umbrella). With the help of expanding tubules, vascular stenosis is eliminated.

The progress of the entire procedure is monitored through the monitor screen - this ensures the effectiveness of the operation, as well as its safety for the patient. In addition, during the manipulation under consideration, general anesthesia is not used: the doctor is limited to anesthesia with mini-accesses.

X-ray surgery can be both the main and auxiliary methods of treating errors in the work of the heart.

Most popular types of heart surgery

To date, the following operations are used in cardiac surgery practice:

1. With coronary heart disease:

2. In case of diagnosing heart disease:

3. In the presence of arrhythmia:

In cases where the treatment of individual anatomical structures of the heart is impossible or ineffective, and the main organ for pumping blood cannot cope with its main function, they perform heart transplant .

This operation is fraught with a number of complications, among which is graft rejection.

Today, scientists are conducting research to maximize the life extension of those who have survived heart transplants.

Cardiac surgery is a branch of medicine dedicated to the surgical treatment of the heart. With pathologies of the cardiovascular system, such intervention is an extreme measure. Doctors try to restore the patient's health without surgery, but in some cases only cardiac surgery can save the patient. Today, this field of cardiology uses the latest advances in science to return the patient to health and a fulfilling life.

Indications for operations

Invasive interventions on the heart is a complex and risky job, it requires skill and experience, and the patient - preparation and implementation of recommendations. Since such operations are risky, they are carried out only when absolutely necessary. In most cases, the patient is trying to rehabilitate with the help of medicines and medical procedures. But in cases where such methods do not help, heart surgery is needed. Surgical intervention is carried out in a hospital and complete sterility, the operated is under anesthesia and the control of the surgical team.

Such interventions are needed for congenital heart defects or acquired. The former include pathologies in the anatomy of the organ: defects in valves, ventricles, impaired blood circulation. Most often they are discovered even during the bearing of a child. Heart disease is also diagnosed in newborns, often such pathologies need to be eliminated urgently in order to save the life of the baby. Among the acquired diseases, ischemic disease is in the lead, in this case, surgery is considered the most effective method of treatment. Also in the heart area there are: impaired blood circulation, stenosis or valve insufficiency, heart attack, pericardial pathology and others.

Heart surgery is prescribed in situations where conservative treatment does not help the patient, the disease progresses rapidly and threatens life, with pathologies that require urgent and urgent correction, and in advanced forms of diseases, a late visit to the doctor.

The decision on the appointment of the operation is made by a council of doctors or. The patient must be examined to establish an accurate diagnosis and type of surgical intervention. They identify chronic diseases, stages of the disease, assess the risks, in which case they talk about a planned operation. If emergency assistance is needed, for example, when a blood clot is torn off or an aneurysm is exfoliated, minimal diagnostics are performed. In any case, the function of the heart is restored surgically, its departments are rehabilitated, blood flow and rhythm are normalized. In severe situations, the organ or its parts are no longer amenable to correction, then prosthetics or transplantation is prescribed.

Classification of heart operations

In the area of the heart muscle, there can be dozens of different diseases, these are: insufficiency, narrowing of the lumen, ruptures of blood vessels, stretching of the ventricles or atria, purulent formations in the pericardium, and much more. To solve each problem, surgery has several types of operations. They are distinguished by urgency, effectiveness and method of influencing the heart.

The general classification divides them into operations:

Buried - used to treat arteries, large vessels, aorta. During such interventions, the chest of the operated person is not opened, the heart itself is also not affected by the surgeon. Therefore, they are called "closed" - the heart muscle remains intact. Instead of a strip opening, the doctor makes a small incision in the chest, most often between the ribs. Closed types include: shunting, balloon angioplasty, stenosis of blood vessels. All these manipulations are designed to restore blood circulation, sometimes they are prescribed to prepare for a future open operation.
Open - carried out after opening the sternum, sawing the bones. The heart itself during such manipulations can also be opened to get to the problem area. As a rule, for such operations, the heart and lungs must be stopped. To do this, connect the heart-lung machine - AIC, it compensates for the work of "disabled" organs. This allows the surgeon to accurately perform the work, in addition, the procedure under the control of AIC takes longer, which is necessary when eliminating complex pathologies. During open operations, AIC may not be connected, but only the desired zone of the heart can be stopped, for example, during coronary artery bypass grafting. Opening the chest is necessary to replace valves, prosthetics, and eliminate tumors.
X-ray surgery - similar to a closed type of operation. The essence of this method is that the doctor moves a thin catheter through the blood vessels, and gets to the very heart. The chest is not opened, the catheter is placed in the thigh or shoulder. The catheter is injected with a contrast agent that stains the vessels. The catheter is advanced under X-ray control, the video image is transmitted to the monitor. Using this method, the lumen in the vessels is restored: at the end of the catheter there is a so-called balloon and a stent. At the site of narrowing, this balloon is inflated with a stent, restoring the normal patency of the vessel.

The safest are minimally invasive methods, that is, X-ray surgery and a closed type of surgery. With such work, the risk of complications is the least, the patient recovers faster after them, but they can not always help the patient. Complex operations can be avoided with periodic inspections. The earlier the problem is identified, the easier it is for the doctor to solve it.

Depending on the condition of the patient, there are:

planned operation. It is carried out after a detailed examination, within the agreed time frame. A planned intervention is prescribed when the pathology does not pose a particular danger, but it cannot be postponed.
Urgent - these are operations that need to be done in the next few days. During this time, the patient is prepared, all the necessary studies are carried out. The date is set immediately after receiving the necessary data.
Emergency. If the patient is already in serious condition, the situation may worsen at any time - an operation is prescribed immediately. Before her, only the most important examinations and preparations are carried out.

In addition, surgical care can be radical or auxiliary. The first implies the complete elimination of the problem, the second - the elimination of only part of the disease, improving the patient's well-being. For example, if a patient has a pathology of the mitral valve and stenosis of a vessel, the vessel is first restored (auxiliary), and after a while valve plastic surgery (radical) is prescribed.

How operations are done

The course and duration of the operation depends on the pathology being eliminated, the patient's condition, and the presence of concomitant diseases. The procedure can take half an hour, and can stretch for 8 hours or more. Most often, such interventions last 3 hours, are carried out under general anesthesia and AIC control. First, the patient is prescribed an ultrasound of the chest, urine and blood tests, an ECG, and a consultation with specialists. After receiving all the data, they determine the degree and place of the pathology, decide whether there will be an operation.

As part of the preparation, a low-fat, spicy, and fried diet is also prescribed. For 6-8 hours before the procedure, it is recommended to refuse food and drink less. In the operating room, the doctor assesses the well-being of the ward, introduces the patient into a medical sleep. With minimally invasive interventions, local anesthesia is sufficient, for example, during X-ray surgery. When anesthesia or anesthesia takes effect, the main actions begin.

Heart valve repair

There are four valves in the heart muscle, all of which serve as a passage for blood from one chamber to another. The most commonly operated valves are the mitral and tricuspid valves, which connect the ventricles to the atria. Stenosis of the passages occurs with insufficient expansion of the valves, while the blood does not flow well from one department to another. Valve insufficiency is a poor closure of the cusps of the passage, while there is an outflow of blood back.

Plastic surgery is carried out open or closed, during the operation, special rings or sutures are applied manually along the diameter of the valve, which restore the normal lumen and narrow the passage. Manipulations last an average of 3 hours; with open views, an AIC is connected. After the procedure, the patient remains under the supervision of doctors for at least a week. The result is normal blood circulation and functioning of the heart valves. In severe cases, native leaflets are replaced with artificial or biological implants.

Elimination of heart defects

In most cases, defects are congenital, the cause of this can be hereditary pathologies, bad habits of parents, infections and fever during pregnancy. At the same time, children may have various anatomical abnormalities in the region of the heart, often such anomalies are poorly compatible with life. The urgency and type of surgery depends on the condition of the child, but they are often prescribed as early as possible. For children, heart surgery is performed only under general anesthesia, and under the supervision of medical equipment.

At an older age, heart defects develop with defects in the interatrial septum. This happens with mechanical damage to the chest, infectious diseases, due to concomitant heart disease. To eliminate such a problem, an open operation is also needed, more often with artificial cardiac arrest.

During manipulations, the surgeon can “patch” the septum with a patch, or suture the defective part.

Shunting

Coronary artery disease (CHD) is a very common pathology that affects mainly the generation over 50 years of age. Appears due to impaired blood flow in the coronary artery, which leads to oxygen starvation of the myocardium. There is a chronic form, in which the patient has constant attacks of angina pectoris, and an acute one is a myocardial infarction. They try to eliminate chronic pain conservatively or with the help of minimally invasive techniques. Acute requires urgent intervention.

To prevent complications or alleviate the disease, apply:

aorto-coronary bypass;
balloon angioplasty;
transmyocardial laser revascularization;
stenting of a coronary artery.

All these methods are aimed at restoring normal blood flow. As a result, enough oxygen is supplied to the myocardium with blood, the risk of a heart attack is reduced, and angina pectoris is eliminated.

If you need to restore normal patency, angioplasty or stenting is enough, in which the catheter is moved through the vessels to the heart. Before such an intervention, coronary angiography is performed to accurately determine the blocked area. Sometimes blood flow is restored bypassing the affected area, while a bio-shunt (often a section of the patient's own vein from the arm or leg) is sutured to the artery.

Recovery after interventions

After surgery, the patient remains in the hospital for another 1-3 weeks, all this time the doctors will assess his condition. The patient is discharged after verification and approval by the cardiologist.

The first month after surgical procedures is called the early postoperative period, at this time it is very important to follow all the doctor's recommendations: diet, calm and measured lifestyle. Nicotine, alcohol, junk food and physical activity are prohibited regardless of the type of intervention.

The doctor's recommendations should also contain a warning about the dangers and complications. At discharge, the doctor will set the date for the next appointment, but you need to seek help and unscheduled if the following symptoms occur:

sudden fever;
redness and swelling at the incision site;
discharge from the wound;
persistent chest pain;
frequent dizziness;
nausea, bloating and stool disorders;
breathing difficulties.

At scheduled examinations, the cardiologist will listen to the heartbeat, measure the pressure, and listen to complaints. To check the effectiveness of the operation, ultrasound, computed tomography, x-ray examinations are prescribed. Such visits are scheduled once a month for six months, then the doctor will see you once every 6 months.

Often, in addition to surgical care, medications are prescribed. For example, when prosthetic valves are artificially implanted, the patient drinks anticoagulants for life.

In the postoperative period, it is important not to self-medicate, since the interaction of permanent drugs and other medications can give a negative result. Even conventional painkillers need to be discussed with. To keep fit and restore health faster, it is recommended to be outdoors more often, walk on foot.

Life after heart surgery will gradually return to its previous course, a full recovery is predicted within a year.

Cardiac surgery offers many methods for the rehabilitation of the heart. Such operations are designed to restore the patient's physical and moral strength. You should not be afraid or avoid such procedures, on the contrary, the sooner they are carried out, the greater the chances of success.

Cardiovascular diseases, unfortunately, occupy one of the first places in terms of mortality in our country. But cardiology does not stand still, but is constantly being improved. In this area, new methods of treatment are constantly emerging and the most modern technologies are being introduced. Naturally, people suffering from severe heart diseases are interested in all the innovations in cardiology, and therefore in various methods of surgical interventions.

When is Cardiac Surgery Used?

Absolutely not any violation in the work of cardiac activity entails surgical intervention. There are absolutely clear criteria on which the attending physician relies, recommending this or that cardiological operation. Such indications may be:

Significant and rapidly progressive deterioration of the patient's condition associated with chronic heart failure.
Acute conditions that threaten the life of the patient.
Extremely low efficiency of simple drug treatment with clear dynamics to the deterioration of the general condition.
The presence of advanced cardiac pathologies that developed against the background of a late visit to the doctor and the lack of adequate treatment.
both congenital and acquired.
Ischemic pathologies leading to the development of a heart attack.

Types of heart surgery

Today, there are many different surgical manipulations on the human heart. All these operations can be divided according to several basic principles.

Urgency.
Technique.

Operations differing in urgency

Any surgical intervention will fall into one of the following groups:

emergency operations. The surgeon performs such heart operations if there is a real threat to the patient's life. It can be a sudden thrombosis, myocardial infarction, the onset of aortic dissection, heart injury. In all these situations, the patient is sent to the operating table immediately after the diagnosis is made, usually even without further tests and examinations.
Urgent. In this situation, there is no such urgency, it is possible to conduct clarifying examinations, but it is also impossible to postpone the operation, as a critical situation may develop in the near future.
Planned. After a long observation by the attending cardiologist, the patient receives a referral to the hospital. Here he undergoes all the necessary examinations and preparation procedures before surgery. The cardiac surgeon clearly sets the time of the operation. In case of problems, for example, a cold, it can be postponed to another day or even a month. There is no threat to life in such a situation.

Differences in technique

In this group, all operations can be divided into ongoing:

Opening the chest. This is a classic method that is used in the most severe cases. The surgeon makes an incision from the neck to the navel and opens the chest completely. Thus, the doctor gets direct access to the heart. Such manipulation is carried out under general anesthesia and the patient is transferred to the cardiopulmonary bypass system. As a result of the fact that the surgeon works with a "dry" heart, he can eliminate even the most severe pathologies with a minimal risk of complications. This method is resorted to in the presence of problems with the coronary artery, aorta and other great vessels, with severe atrial fibrillation and other problems.
Without opening the chest. This type of surgical intervention belongs to the so-called minimally invasive techniques. There is absolutely no need for open access to the heart. These techniques are much less traumatic for the patient, but they are not suitable in all cases.
X-ray surgical technique. This method in medicine is relatively new, but it has already proven itself very well. The main advantage is that after these manipulations the patient recovers very quickly and complications are extremely rare. The essence of this technique lies in the fact that a device similar to a balloon is introduced to the patient using a catheter to expand the vessel and eliminate its defect. This whole procedure is carried out using a monitor and the progress of the probe can be clearly controlled.

The difference in the amount of assistance provided

All surgical manipulations in people with heart problems can be divided both in terms of the volume and direction of the problems to be eliminated.

Correction is palliative. Such surgical intervention can be attributed to auxiliary techniques. All manipulations will be aimed at bringing blood flow back to normal. This may be the end goal or preparation of the vessel for further surgical procedures. These procedures are not aimed at eliminating the existing pathology, but only eliminate its consequences and prepare the patient for full treatment.
radical intervention. With such manipulations, the surgeon sets himself the goal - if possible, the complete elimination of the developed pathology.

Most common heart surgeries

People with problems of the cardiovascular system are often interested in what types of heart surgeries are and how long they last. Let's look at some of them.

RF ablation

A fairly large number of people have problems with a violation in the direction of its increase - tachycardia. In difficult situations today, cardiac surgeons offer radiofrequency ablation, or "cautery of the heart." This is a minimally invasive procedure that does not require an open heart. It is performed using X-ray surgery. The pathological part of the heart is affected by radio frequency signals, which damage it, and therefore eliminate the additional path along which the impulses pass. Normal pathways are at the same time fully preserved, and the heart rate gradually returns to normal.

Coronary artery bypass grafting

With age or due to other circumstances, atherosclerotic plaques can form in the arteries, which narrow the lumen for blood flow. Thus, the flow of blood to the heart is greatly impaired, which inevitably leads to very deplorable results. In the event that the narrowing of the lumen reaches a critical state, surgery recommends that the patient undergo coronary artery bypass grafting.

This type of surgery involves creating a bypass from the aorta to the artery using a shunt. The shunt will allow blood to bypass the narrowed area and normalize blood flow to the heart. Sometimes it is required to install not one, but several shunts at once. The operation is quite traumatic, like any other, performed at the opening of the chest and lasts a long time, up to six hours. Coronary artery bypass surgery is usually performed on the open heart, but today alternative methods are gaining more and more popularity - coronary angioplasty (insertion of an expanding balloon through a vein) and stenting.

Like the previous method, it is used to increase the lumen of the arteries. It is referred to as a minimally invasive, endovascular technique.

The essence of the method consists in introducing an inflated balloon in a special metal frame into the artery into the pathology zone, using a special catheter. The balloon inflates and opens the stent - the vessel also expands to the desired size. Next, the surgeon removes the balloon, the metal structure remains, creating a strong skeleton of the artery. Throughout the procedure, the doctor monitors the progress of the stent on the screen of the X-ray monitor.

The operation is practically painless and does not require long and special rehabilitation.

Heart valve replacement

With congenital or acquired pathology of the heart valves, the patient is often shown their prosthetics. Regardless of what type of prosthesis will be installed, surgery most often takes place on the open heart. The patient is put to sleep under general anesthesia and transferred to the cardiopulmonary bypass system. Given this, the recovery process will be long and fraught with a number of complications.

An exception to the procedure for valvular replacement is aortic valve replacement. This procedure can be performed using a gentle endovascular technique. The surgeon inserts a biological prosthesis through the femoral vein and places it in the aorta.

Operations Ross and Glenn

Often, heart surgery is performed on children who are diagnosed with congenital heart defects. Most often, operations are performed according to the methods of Ross and Glenn.

The essence of the Ross system is to replace the aortic valve with the pulmonary valve of the patient. The biggest advantage of such a replacement can be considered that there will be no threat of rejection, like any other valve taken from a donor. In addition, the annulus will grow with the child's body and can last a lifetime. But, unfortunately, an implant must be placed in place of the removed pulmonary valve. It is important that the implant at the site of the pulmonary valve lasts much longer without replacement than the same one at the site of the aortic valve.

The Glenn technique was developed for the treatment of children with pathology of the circulatory system. This is a technology that allows you to create an anastomosis to connect the right pulmonary artery and the superior vena cava, which normalizes the movement of blood flow through the systemic and pulmonary circulation.

Despite the fact that surgical intervention significantly prolongs the life of the patient and improves its quality, it is still mostly an extreme case.

Any doctor will try to do everything possible so that the treatment is conservative, but, unfortunately, sometimes this is completely impossible. It is important to understand that any surgical intervention in the work of the heart is a very difficult procedure for the patient, and it will require high-quality rehabilitation, sometimes quite lengthy.

Recovery time

Rehabilitation after heart surgery is a very important stage in the treatment of patients.

The success of the operation can only be judged after the end, which can last quite a long time. This is especially true for patients who underwent open heart surgery. Here it is extremely important to follow the recommendations of doctors as accurately as possible and have a positive attitude.

After surgery with an opening of the chest, the patient is discharged home in about a week or two. The doctor makes clear instructions for further treatment at home - it is especially important to follow them.

trip home

Already at this stage, it is important to take measures so that you do not have to go back to the hospital urgently. It is important to remember here that all movements should be as slow and smooth as possible. In the event that the road takes more than one hour, you need to periodically stop and get out of the car. This must be done to avoid stagnation of blood in the vessels.

Relations with relatives

Both relatives and the patient need to understand that people who have undergone major operations under general anesthesia are extremely prone to irritability and mood swings. These problems will pass with time, you just need to treat each other with maximum understanding.

Taking medications

This is one of the most important moments in life after heart surgery. It is important for the patient to always have all the necessary medicines with him. It is especially important not to show excessive self-activity and not to take drugs that are not prescribed. In addition, you should not stop taking medication prescribed by your doctor.

seam care

The patient should calmly perceive a temporary sensation of discomfort in the suture area. In the beginning, it can be pain, a feeling of tightness and itching. Painkillers can be prescribed by a doctor to relieve pain; special ointments or gels can be used to relieve other symptoms, but only after consulting a surgeon.

The seam should be dry, without excessive redness or swelling. This needs to be watched closely. The place of the seam must be constantly treated with brilliant green, and the first water procedures are allowed to be taken after about two weeks. Such patients are allowed only a shower, and taking a bath and sudden changes in temperature are contraindicated. It is recommended to wash the seam only with ordinary soap and gently blot with a towel.

In a situation where the patient's temperature rises sharply to 38 degrees, severe swelling appears with redness at the site of the suture, fluid is released or severe pain is disturbing, you should immediately consult a doctor.

It is important for a person who has undergone heart surgery to set a goal - maximum recovery. But the main thing here is not to rush, but to do everything gradually and very carefully.

In the first days after returning home, you need to try to do everything as smoothly and slowly as possible, gradually increasing the load. For example, in the early days, you can try to walk from one hundred to five hundred meters, but if fatigue appears, you should rest. Then the distance should be gradually increased. It is best to walk outdoors and on flat terrain. After a week of walking, you should try to climb the stairs for 1-2 flights. At the same time, you can try to do simple housework.

Approximately two months later, the cardiologist will perform a stitch healing test and give permission to increase physical activity. The patient may begin to swim or play tennis. He will be allowed to work lightly in the garden with the lifting of small weights. Another test the cardiologist should conduct in three or four months. By this time, it is desirable for the patient to restore all the basic motor activity.

Diet

This aspect of rehabilitation also needs to be paid close attention.

The first time after the operation, the patient often lacks appetite and at this time any restrictions are not very relevant. But over time, a person recovers and his desire to eat familiar foods is restored. Unfortunately, there are a number of strict restrictions that will now always have to be observed. In the diet, you will have to severely limit fatty, spicy, salty and sweet. Cardiologists advise what you can eat after heart surgery - vegetables, fruits, various cereals, fish and lean meat. It is extremely important for such people to monitor their weight, and hence the caloric content of food.

Bad habits

Patients who have undergone heart surgery, of course, are strictly prohibited from smoking and using drugs. Drinking alcohol during the rehabilitation period is also prohibited.

Life after surgery can become full and rich. After a period of rehabilitation, many patients return to life without pain, shortness of breath and, most importantly, fear.

Morning. Petroverigsky lane, 10. At this Moscow address in the Kitay-Gorod area, I arrived at the angiography.su federal center for the diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases, which is part of the state research center for preventive medicine, to put on a sterile suit again and visit in the operating room.

Angiography is a method of examining blood vessels using x-rays and contrast fluid. It is used to detect damage and defects. Without it, the operation that I am going to talk about - stenting - would not have been possible.

There will still be some blood. I think I should warn impressionable people about this before they open the post in its entirety.

Who has never heard of cholesterol plaques, he did not watch the show of Elena Malysheva. Plaques are deposits on the inner walls of blood vessels that have accumulated over the years. They are similar in texture to thick wax. The plaque consists not only of cholesterol, calcium in the blood sticks to it, making the deposits even more dense. And this whole structure slowly but surely clogs the vessels, preventing our fiery motor, or rather the pump, from delivering nutrients and oxygen to various organs, including the heart itself.

Before the advent of the stenting method, which will be discussed, the doctors were armed with only the surgical method of bypass surgery, which became popularly famous thanks to Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin's heart surgery in 1996 in a round operating room. I remember this case vividly (a memory from childhood), although a lot of famous people have done a similar operation.

Shunting is an abdominal operation. A person is given anesthesia, they cut the chest (they cut it, they can’t do it with one scalpel), they stop the heart and start the artificial circulation system. The beating heart beats very strongly and interferes with the operation, so it has to be stopped. To get to all the arteries and shunt, you need to get the heart and turn it over. A shunt is a donor artery taken from the patient himself, for example, from the arm. A lot of stress on the body.

During stenting, the patient remains conscious (everything happens under local anesthesia), can hold his breath or take deep breaths at the request of the doctor. Blood loss is minimal, and the incisions are tiny, because the arteries are entered through a catheter, which is usually inserted into the femoral artery. And they put a stent - a mechanical vasodilator. All in all, an elegant operation (-:

The operation for Sergei Iosifovich was done in three stages. I ended up on the final operation in the series. You cannot place all stents at once.

The surgical table and the angiograph (a semicircular device hanging over the patient) form a single mechanism that works together. The table moves back and forth, and the machine rotates around the table to take x-rays of the heart from different angles.

The patient is placed on the table, fixed and connected to the heart monitor.

To make it clear the device of the angiograph, I will show it separately. It's a small angiograph, not as big as the ones in the operating room. If necessary, it can even be brought to the ward.

It works quite simply. An emitter is installed below, a converter is installed at the top (a smile is pasted on it), from which a signal with an image is already transmitted to the monitor. Scattering of X-rays in space does not actually occur, however, everyone present in the operating room is protected. About eight such operations are performed per day.

Through a vessel on the arm or thigh, as in our case, a special catheter is inserted.

A thin metal wire, a conductor, is inserted through the catheter into the artery to deliver the stent to the site of the blockage. I was amazed at its length!

The stent - a mesh cylinder - is attached to the end of this wire in a compressed state. It is mounted on a balloon that will be inflated at the right time to deploy the stent. Initially, this design is not thicker than the conductor itself.

This is what an open stent looks like.

And this is a scale model of a different type of stent. In the case when the walls of the vessels are damaged, they are installed with a membrane. They not only support the vessel in the open state, but also serve as the walls of the vessels.

All through the same catheter, an iodine-containing contrast agent is injected. With the blood flow, it fills the coronary arteries. This allows the x-ray to visualize them and calculate the blockage sites, on which stents will be placed.

Here is such an Amazon basin obtained by injecting contrast.

All eyes on monitors! The entire stent placement process is observed through X-ray television.

After the stent is delivered into place, the balloon on which it is attached must be inflated. This is done using a device with a manometer (pressure meter). This device, which looks like a large syringe, is visible in the photo with long conductor wires.

The stent expands and is pressed into the inner wall of the vessel. To ensure that the stent has expanded correctly, the balloon remains inflated for twenty to thirty seconds. It is then deflated and pulled out of the artery on a wire. The stent remains and maintains the lumen of the vessel.

Depending on the size of the affected vessel, one or more stents may be used. In this case, they are overlapped one after the other.

And here's how the stent works. Below are screenshots from the X-ray TV. In the first picture, we see only one artery, a curly one. But another one should be visible, below it. Because of the plaque, the blood flow is completely blocked.

The thick sausage on the second is a stent that has just been deployed. The arteries are not visible because the contrast is not running in them, but the wires are just visible.

The third one shows the result. An artery appeared, blood flowed. Now compare the first picture with the third one again.

The concept of expanding the affected areas of the vessel with the help of a certain frame was proposed by Charles Dotter forty years ago. The development of the method took a long time, the first operation using this technology was performed by a group of French surgeons only in 1986. And only in 1993, the effectiveness of the method was proven to restore the patency of the coronary artery and keep it in a new state in the future.

Currently, foreign companies have developed about 400 different models of stents. In our case, this is Cordis from Johnson & Johnson. Artem Shanoyan, head of the department of X-ray endovascular diagnostic and treatment methods at the center, answered my question about Russian stent manufacturers that they simply do not exist.

The operation takes about half an hour. A pressure bandage is applied to the puncture site. From the operating room, the patient is sent to the intensive care unit, and two hours later to the general ward, from where you can already scribble joyful SMS to relatives. And in a few days they will be able to see each other at home.

Lifestyle restrictions typical for heart patients are usually removed after stenting, the person returns to normal life, and observation is carried out periodically by a doctor at the place of residence.