Heart and vascular surgery
If your heart or blood vessels have been damaged — by conditions such as heart failure or congenital heart abnormalities — cardiovascular surgeons work to repair them. They may use traditional surgery or minimally invasive approaches, which can enable a faster recovery for you.
Heart and Vascular Surgery
Our highly experienced heart and vascular surgeons provide life-saving care using advanced technology and expert techniques.
HCA Florida Northwest Hospital gives our community access to the highest level of care for cardiac and vascular surgery. We offer an extensive range of treatments and are a leader in various methods — from conventional open-heart surgeries to valve procedures and advanced, minimally invasive surgical techniques to treat cardiac arrhythmias or irregular heart rhythms.
Related specialties
Learn more about our related specialties.
Our heart surgery treatments and services
Our board-certified cardiac surgeons are innovators and early adopters of advanced technologies and treatments to give patients improved outcomes and faster recoveries. Surgical specialties our team of doctors provide include:
- Aortic valve replacement
- Bentall procedure (involves composite graft replacement of aortic valve, aortic root and ascending aorta)
- Complex reoperative surgery
- Coronary revascularization (coronary bypass surgery)
- Endovascular surgery for aneurysms and dissection of the aorta
- Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy surgery (HOCM)
- Minimally invasive cardiac surgery
- Minimally invasive hybrid procedure for atrial fibrillation
- Minimally invasive lung surgery
- Minimally invasive/robotic thoracic surgery
- Minimally invasive procedures using ablation energy
- Sternal reconstruction
- Surgery for arrhythmias
- Thoracic aortic aneurysm procedures
- Valve replacement and repair (aortic, mitral and tricuspid)
- Valve-sparing procedures for the aortic root
Our vascular surgery treatments and services
Vascular surgeries performed at HCA Florida Northwest Hospital include:
- Atherectomy
- Iliac artery stenting
- Lower extremity arterial stenting
- Shockwave lithotripsy
- Thrombectomy of pulmonary arteries
- Venous stenting
Diagnosing and treating peripheral vascular disease (PVD)
To properly diagnose PVD, an arteriogram or aortogram may be performed. If the diagnosis is confirmed, treatment options may include a balloon angioplasty, stenting or an atherectomy.
TCAR
Our vascular surgeons treat carotid artery disease and prevent future strokes using a procedure called transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR). TCAR is a clinically proven, minimally invasive and safe approach for high-risk patients who need carotid artery treatment.
Carotid artery disease is a form of atherosclerosis, or a buildup of plaque, in the two main arteries in the neck that supply oxygen-rich blood to the brain. If left untreated, carotid artery disease can often lead to stroke; it is estimated to be the source of stroke in up to a third of cases, with 400,000 new diagnoses of the disease made every year in the U.S. alone.
TCAR is unique in that blood flow is temporarily reversed during the procedure so that any small bits of plaque that may break off are diverted away from the brain, preventing a stroke from happening. A stent is then placed inside the artery to stabilize the plaque, minimizing the risk of a future stroke. TCAR has been studied extensively, and the clinical data have been excellent.
Thoracic endovascular aortic repair (TEVAR)
HCA Florida Northwest Hospital’s highly trained surgeons are able to use the latest robotic technologies and techniques to perform complex operations with smaller incisions, ensuring patient safety and comfort.
TEVAR is the minimally invasive preferred approach for management of multiple thoracic aortic pathologies. TEVAR is an alternative to open surgery due to the excellent results obtained with this approach and the lower risk for complications for patients. It is now the preferred approach for patients with thoracic aortic pathology and anatomy amenable to endograft placement.
TEVAR is used for treatment of adult patients with aortic aneurysms, acute and chronic thoracic aortic dissection, thoracic aortic rupture, traumatic aortic transection, penetrating aortic ulcers and aortic pseudoaneurysms.
During the procedure, an aortic graft (similar to a stent is placed to exclude the affected area of the aorta from the regular blood flow and pressure.
To choose the size of the graft needed, a preoperative CT scan with contrast is completed to plan the procedure and assess the femoral arteries for access. Usually performed under general anesthesia, a lumbar drain may be placed before the procedure to lower the risk of spinal cord complications.
The operation is done through small needle punctures on the groins to pass guide wires and catheters to deploy the aortic graft. Live X-ray imaging is used to see the precise areas needing treatment and to ensure the graft is deployed appropriately.
After the procedure, the patients’ blood pressure and neurologic status are monitored in ICU. Typically, patients are discharged from the hospital within five days after the procedure. Patients are monitored with CT scans at one month, six months and then annually to assess for adequate graft position and to monitor for possible blood leaks around the graft.
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