Advanced technology gives hope to more heart patients than ever before. University Hospitals Heart Surgery Center collaborates with the Division of Pediatric and Adult Cardiovascular Medicine to treat congenital heart disease (CHD) in patients who need surgery, heart transplantation or heart assist devices.

We use state-of-the-art equipment to diagnose advanced heart failure, and then treat it with one of these proven programs:

• Aneurysm surgery of the aorta and great vessels:
  repair and replacement of dilated, enlarged arteries, the aorta in particular, to prevent it from bruising.
• Congenital heart disease surgery:
  - Adults: including patients with congenital heart defects which are diagnosed in adulthood; and the ever-increasing number of adult patients who have had congenital heart defects repaired or palliated in childhood.
  - Pediatric: our multidisciplinary approach starts at the earliest recognition of CHD, whether in-utero, infancy, childhood or adolescence, and continues throughout the patient's lifetime.
• Coronary artery bypass surgery:
  performed on patients who are not able to undergo other treatments, such as balloon procedures and coronary artery stenting. A bypass enhances blood flow to the heart muscle and preserves heart function; and is a method of treating atherosclerosis.

Heart Failure Surgery

• Heart transplant surgery:
  when all other medical treatments are unsuccessful, a patient's failing heart is replaced by a good heart from a brain-dead donor.
• Laser transmyocardial revascularization (TMR):
  using laser techniques, very small channels are created through the wall of the left pumping chamber (ventricle). This improves blood flow to the heart muscle. Advanced coronary disease patients who are not candidates for conventional bypass surgery may respond quite positively to this technique. Clinical trials are currently underway to evaluate two different laser technologies for TMR.
• Ventricular assist device surgery:
  A variety of devices are available to help the failing heart and improve overall circulation. These devices can be used to buy time or "bridge" to a heart transplant, or can be used as definitive treatment. The Heart Surgery Center participates in clinical trials involving the Jarvic Heart, a miniaturized ventricular assist device that can fit in the palm of your hand.
• Heart rhythm disorder surgery:
  Performed on patients with a history of atrial fibrillation (fast, erratic beating of the upper chambers of the heart) who do not respond well to medical management, particularly when the patient requires cardiac surgery for another reason. The surgery helps interrupt and redirect the electrical conduction system of the heart to help return atria to a controlled rhythm.
• Heart valve surgery:
  repair or replacement for narrowed (stenotic) or leaking (insufficient) heart valves (aortic, mitral, tricuspid, and pulmonic) using either the patient's own tissue or the range of currently available heart valve prostheses. Learn more about the advanced care you will receive at University Hospitals Heart Valve Center.