Cardiothoracic surgeon John Macoviak MD MBA, worked with and did heart surgery on over 3000 patients to treat a range of conditions related to heart health. Now retired, John Macoviak MD MBA shares his insights from 4 decades of research on topics such as coronary bypass surgery and heart transplantation..
Recommended in situations in which atherosclerotic plaque severely hardens and blocks the coronary arteries, bypass surgery involves the physician often removing plaque form artery, and restoring blood flow beyond certain blockages using a mammary artery or vein from the leg.
One prerequisite for the procedure is temporarily stopping the heart with a paralytic, called cardioplegia.. This process can be performed safely because the main arteries are attached to a heart-lung machine to serve as a temporary blood and oxygen pump until the surgical grafting procedure is complete. Once the paralytic agents are reversed with blood flow to the heart from the heart lung machine, , the heart is restarted and the patient begins a recovery process in an intensive care unit.
