Heart Surgery at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville

(Synonyms: Cardiac surgery)

	Cardiothoracic surgery to repair a heart aneurysm gave ex-boxer Harding McCain back his punch. Read Harding McCain's story in the Mayo Clinic Checkup newsletter.

The cardiac surgery team at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville offers high-quality, comprehensive diagnosis and surgical care to adolescent and adult patients with heart diseases and abnormalities. Patients undergoing heart surgery benefit from the full range of cardiac care at Mayo Clinic, including advanced options such as ventricular assist devices (artificial hearts) and heart transplantation as well as a Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation Program.

The heart surgery team consists of four certified cardiothoracic surgeons who have advanced training and expertise in the intricate details of heart surgery. The team reviews its surgical outcomes regularly to provide the highest standard of care to patients.

Our heart surgeons perform complex cardiac surgery procedures using the latest technology and innovations. Below is a list of frequently performed procedures. For more information, contact us at ctsurgeryjax@mayo.edu.

• Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG). Mayo Clinic surgeons do bypass surgery on and off "the pump," the heart-lung bypass machine. Leg veins used for the bypass are usually removed endoscopically via tiny incisions, reducing the patient's discomfort and easing recovery. Bypass surgery is done to detour around coronary artery blockages that cannot be successfully treated with medication or heart catheterization with angioplasty.
  
  
• Heart valve repair or replacement. Mayo Clinic surgeons are experienced in complex procedures, including mitral valve repairs to treat atrial fibrillation and repair of annuloaortic ectasia while sparing the aortic valve. (The condition is commonly seen in patients with connective tissue disorders, such as Marfan's syndrome.)
  
  
• Repair of aortic aneurysms and dissections. Mayo cardiothoracic surgeons have extensive experience repairing aortic dissections and aortic aneurysms located above the diaphragm. An aortic dissection occurs when blood pushes into a tear in the inner layer of the aortic wall and separates it from the outer layer.
  
  
• Aortic root replacements. The aortic root is located where the aorta meets the heart. This procedure is done to treat ascending aortic aneurysms or aortic root dilation (a bulge in the artery where it enters the heart).
  
  
• MAZE procedure. A surgical technique used to cure atrial fibrillation. Surgeons create multiple cuts in the muscle of the atria and then stitch them back together. These incision lines interfere with stray electrical pathways and circuits that cause atrial fibrillation.
  
  
• Ventricular assist devices. VADs, also called artificial hearts, are surgically implanted in patients who need temporary support while recovering from open heart surgery or waiting for a transplant.
  
  
• Heart transplantation.
  
  
• Minimally invasive thoracoscopic insertion of pacing wires. This is usually done when implanting a heart pacemaker in the normal way is not possible or poses too high a risk for the patient.
  
  
• Heart or cardiac tumors.