Heart and vascular surgery

The operating rooms at our hospital are equipped with state-of-the-art perfusion equipment (heart-lung machines for bypass surgeries). We have perfusionists on staff who are highly trained to use this equipment. They are dedicated to carefully monitoring your cardiopulmonary state throughout your surgery.

Common cardiac procedures performed at our hospital include:

• Abdominal aortic aneurysm repair: This is a form of open-heart surgery that involves removing part of the damaged aorta and replacing it with a graft.
• Balloon angioplasty: This is a procedure that widens a blocked artery by inserting a catheter and expanding a balloon within the artery to open it up.
• Carotid endarterectomy: This is a procedure that removes excess plaque and buildup from the carotid artery, which is located in the neck, to restore blood flow to the brain.
• Congenital heart abnormality repair: This is a surgical repair of congenital (present at birth) heart abnormalities that are identified in adulthood.
• Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG): This open-heart surgery restores sufficient blood flow to the heart when the coronary arteries have become blocked or narrowed.
• Coronary atherectomy: This procedure removes plaque that has built up in the walls of an artery to restore normal blood flow.
• Coronary stenting: This procedure places a stent in the coronary artery, often following an angioplasty, to prevent the artery from becoming narrowed or blocked again.
• High-intensity focused ultrasound ablation: This treatment for atrial fibrillation (AFib) uses high-energy ultrasound waves that generate heat to destroy heart tissue that is contributing to AFib.
• Implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) insertion: This procedure inserts an ICD into the body, which is a battery-powered device that administers an electrical shock when arrhythmias are present to restore a proper rhythm.
• Left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implant: An LVAD is a surgically implanted battery-operated pump that provides assistance to the heart's chambers to effectively pump blood throughout the body.
• Pacemaker insertion: This procedure inserts a pacemaker in the chest to help regulate heart arrhythmias.
• Radiofrequency ablation: This treatment for irregular heartbeats uses radiofrequency energy to ablate (destroy) a portion of heart tissue that is causing a heart arrhythmia.
• Valvuloplasty: This procedure uses a catheter with a balloon inside that is inflated to widen the aortic valve when it has become narrowed.

Our cardiologists and cardiac surgeons provide advanced valve treatment options as a part of our comprehensive structural heart services. A cardiologist will take the time to evaluate you if you have a complex heart valve disease, such as aortic stenosis or mitral stenosis. Your case is reviewed by a multidisciplinary team of healthcare professionals to determine an optimal, customized treatment plan.

Specialists at our hospital treat all types of complex valve disease, including:

• Aortic stenosis
• Mitral regurgitation
• Mitral stenosis
• Pulmonary stenosis

To talk about what kind of heart valve treatments might be useful for you, we hope you'll call our nurse navigator at (941) 798-6007.

Mitral valve repair and replacement

Our hospital is one of only a few facilities nationally with heart surgeons achieving mitral valve repair rates greater than 98 percent. This means a better quality of life for you after surgery, usually without the need for anticoagulant medications (blood thinners).

Our cardiac surgeons perform mechanical replacements, bioprosthetic replacements and repairs for mitral valve prolapse and regurgitation. Mitral valve prolapse occurs when blood backs into the atrium or flows in the wrong direction. Mitral valve regurgitation occurs when blood leaks from a ventricle across the mitral valve and into the atrium.

Our surgeons are always on the forefront of new surgical innovations and technologies. Minimally invasive surgery offers many benefits for you, including a faster recovery time. The following minimally invasive heart procedures are performed at our hospital:

• Off-pump coronary artery bypass graft (CABG)
• Pericardial window surgery
• Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR)