Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting(CABG)
The heart is supplied by two blood vessels, the left and the right coronary arteries and their branches. Due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, these arteries may develop blocks causing a lack of blood supply or “Ischemia” in the area of muscles supplied by these arteries. If transient, it can cause chest pain which is medically referred to as “Angina Pectoris” and if it is severe, can lead to “Myocardial Infarction” and death of the distal cardiac muscle in an event which is more commonly known as a “heart attack”.
The blocks can be diagnosed by a radiological investigation called “Coronary Angiography”. As a treatment, these arterial blocks can be removed from the inside, in certain situations, by dilating the arteries with a balloon and supporting the dilated area with a scaffolding called a “stent”. This procedure is called an “Angioplasty and Stenting”.
The other permanent option is to create new blood vessels supplying the areas devoid of blood. This procedure is called “Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG)”. This is done by harvesting conduits or blood vessels from the body and using them to supply blood to the ischemic areas of the heart. Conventionally this operation was performed using a “heart – lung machine”. The latest advanced version of this surgery is done without stopping the heart i.e. on a “beating heart” and with arterial grafts.
A CABG procedure can be used to supply blood to all corners of the heart and has better results than an angioplasty for multi-vessel disease.
Sometimes, a patient has additional disease in his/her Aorta and its major branches, heart valves and peripheral limb arteries. This requires an additional surgery besides a CABG for these patients.
