Cardiac Care Center at Brazosport Hospital - Lake Jackson, TX

A Temporary Pump, to Relieve Stress on the Heart and Decrease Damage to the Muscle

Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) is a non-surgical procedure used to widen coronary arteries that have been blocked or narrowed. The procedure involves the use of a catheter to place a stent in the heart, opening the blood vessels and improving blood flow. PCI may be used for the relief of coronary heart disease symptoms or to reduce damage to the heart before or after a heart attack.

Thrombolysis is a treatment used to dissolve clots that develop in the blood vessels and improve blood flow throughout the body. Thrombolytic Medications are sometimes given through an intravenous line (IV) to ensure distribution directly to the affected area.

The traditional and most common type of surgery for aortic aneurysms is open chest repair. It involves a major incision in the chest. General anesthesia is needed with this procedure. The aneurysm is removed and the section of aorta is replaced with an artificial graft made of material such as Dacron® or Teflon®. The surgery takes 3 to 6 hours, and the patient remains in the hospital for 5 to 8 days. It often takes a month to recover from open chest surgery and return to full activity.

A specially designed catheter with a tiny balloon is carefully guided through the artery to the blockage, then inflated to widen the opening and increase blood flow to the heart. A stent is often placed during the procedure, to keep the artery open after the balloon is deflated and removed.

A valvuloplasty, also known as balloon valvuloplasty or balloon valvotomy, is a procedure to repair a heart valve that has a narrowed opening. In a narrowed heart valve, the valve flaps (leaflets) may become thick or stiff and fuse together (stenosis). This reduces blood flow through the valve.

Bioprosthetic heart valves are most commonly either made of bovine (cow) or porcine (pig) tissue. Of course the main advantage of a bioprosthetic valve is that there is not typically the need for life long blood thinning medication and therefore a significantly lower risk of bleeding.

Coronary artery bypass surgery is a treatment for coronary artery disease (blocking or narrowing of the arteries that carry blood an oxygen to the heart). The procedure takes healthy blood vessels from elsewhere in the body, often the leg, and grafts them above and below the blockages to redirect blood around the blockage and restore blood flow to the heart.

A heart transplant is an operation in which a diseased, failing heart is replaced with a healthier donor heart. Heart transplant is a treatment that's usually reserved for people whose condition hasn't improved enough with medications or other surgeries.

Heart valve repair can usually be done on congenital valve defects (defects you are born with) and has a good success record with treating mitral valve defects. Severe valve damage means the valve must be replaced and most often involves the aortic or mitral valve. It is also used to treat any valve disease that is life-threatening. Some patients may need more than one valve repaired or replaced.

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) is a pump that is used for patients who have reached end-stage heart failure. The LVAD, a battery-operated, mechanical pump, is surgically implanted, which then helps the left ventricle) pump blood to the rest of the body.

A significantly less invasive procedure than traditional open-heart surgery, Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery involves one or more small incisions, which are usually made on the right side of the chest between the ribs to access the heart. This procedure often results in less pain and faster recovery for the patient.

Any type of surgery that involves cutting open the chest and splitting the breastbone to access and operate on the heart. Open-heart surgeries treat heart conditions like congenital heart defects, arrhythmias, aneurysms, coronary artery disease, and heart failure.

Peripheral stents are often implanted in conjunction with balloon angioplasty. Peripheral stent implants help hold open an artery so that blood can flow through the blocked or clogged artery., The stent—a small, lattice-shaped wire mesh tube, props open the artery and remains permanently in place.

Peripheral vascular bypass (PVB) refers to surgical revision of blood flow to restore perfusion distal to an occluded or otherwise disrupted arterial segment. Peripheral vascular bypass procedures can involve any arteries excluding those in the heart or the brain

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive procedure to replace a narrowed aortic valve that fails to open properly.

A minimally invasive procedure for patients with mitral valve regurgitation (a condition where the mitral valve is not functioning properly). Unlike traditional open-heart surgery, TMVR does not require surgical opening of the chest. Instead, a catheter is inserted into a vein in the groin and up to the heart. The catheter is used to implant a small device that tightens the mitral valve to reduce the effects of mitral regurgitation.