Heart Surgery

Many diseases and conditions can cause the aorta to enlarge or tear and thereby increase the risk for life-threatening events. Such conditions range from atherosclerosis (thickening and hardening of the arterial walls) and high blood pressure to genetic conditions such as Marfan’s syndrome.

Artificial hearts are mechanical devices that can be connected directly to a failing heart to help it pump blood through the body.

Atrial fibrillation is a rapid and disorganized heartbeat that may cause everything from heart failure to stroke.

Congenital heart disease is a defect in one or more structures of the heart or blood vessels that occurs before birth, while the fetus is still developing.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is a type of heart disease marked by thickening of the heart muscle and other changes. In a surgical procedure called a septal myectomy, Swedish cardiac surgeons remove a small amount of the thickened septal wall to widen the path the blood takes from the left ventricle to the aorta.

Advances in minimally invasive heart valve surgery are providing a wide range of benefits to Swedish patients, including faster recovery times and scarring that is much less visible. 

Mitral valve repair is an optional surgical procedure of choice for patients with a leaky valve (mitral regurgitation). When the leak is caused by a degenerative valve disease such as mitral valve prolapse, the valve can be repaired – rather than replaced.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a method used to replace a heart valve without using traditional open-heart surgery.

Depending on a patient’s individual circumstances, heart-valve disease can be treated in a variety of ways, including heart-valve surgery.