Cardiothoracic Surgery is the field of medicine involved in the surgical treatment of diseases affecting the organs inside the thorax (chest) – mainly the heart and lungs.
National Heart Centre Singapore's team of cardiac, thoracic and vascular surgeons specialise in treating high-risk patients and those previously turned down for coronary artery bypass at other centres. The heart specialists from the department of Cardiothoracic Surgery have routinely performed heart bypass surgery, and the mortality rate for the high-risk coronary artery bypass is below 2%, comparable to the international standards reported by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons, a national database in United States.
While the KK Women's and Children's Hospital provides elective and emergency cardiothoracic surgery to neonates, infants and children, under the SingHealth Group.
Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting, or CABG Surgery is the technique of using blood vessels from another part of the body to bypass obstructed arteries supplying blood to the heart. Either your leg veins or internal mammary artery can be used for the bypass surgery. This surgery helps to restore normal blood flow to the heart muscle affected by the blockage.
Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary Angioplasty (PTCA), or Coronary Angioplasty, is a minimally invasive non-surgical procedure that is used to open narrowed arteries. It involves the use of a flexible catheter with a balloon at the tip, which is inflated at high pressure inside the narrowed arterial wall. This will force the arterial plaque against the blood vessel and improve the blood flow to the heart muscle. This procedure can improve some of the symptoms associated with blocked arteries, such as chest pain or shortness of breath.
Valves that are not functioning correctly can either be repaired or replaced. Examples of a valve not functioning correctly are when it is stenotic (narrowed) or incompetent (leaky), causing blood to leak back into the heart when it should flow out of the heart. Valves that are not repaired lead to heart disease and mortality.
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