Heart disease affects millions of Americans. If you’re one of them, you may need cardiac surgery. Our highly skilled, expert cardiac surgeons at Baptist Health have the experience to complete the complex traditional and minimally invasive procedures that can protect and restore your heart health.
Even though we’re surgeons, we know heart surgery isn’t right for every patient. As a cardiac surgery group, we work closely with all our team of heart and vascular colleagues to make sure you receive the right treatment for your condition.
We look forward to being the partner that can deliver the comprehensive, compassionate and personalized cardiac care you deserve.
Our Approach to Cardiac Surgery
Cardiac surgery can be the answer to fix your heart problem. But, as your surgeons, we work closely with all our expert cardiology colleagues to be sure surgery is the right treatment for you. As heart care leaders, we bring the most advanced heart surgery technologies and equipment together.
Delivering the best, most convenient care is our priority.
When to Have Heart Surgery
If you’ve been diagnosed with heart disease, heart failure or a heart valve problem, you may need cardiac surgery — especially if medication and lifestyle changes aren’t an option or they no longer work.
Your doctor may recommend heart surgery to repair or unblock the arteries around your heart. Or they could suggest a procedure to repair or replace a damaged heart valve or major blood vessel near your heart.
Cardiac surgery can be a complex process. We’re always here to answer any questions you have. But this booklet can also give you details about:
- Things to do to get ready for heart surgery
- What usually happens after surgery in the hospital
- What you can do to improve your recovery.
Heart Surgery Booklet
View our heart surgery patient guide! Inside, you’ll find essential information to help you prepare for your heart surgery and navigate the recovery process smoothly.
From pre-operative instructions to post-operative care tips, we’ve got you covered every step of the way.
Types of Cardiac Surgery
As cardiac surgeons, we try to use minimally invasive procedures whenever possible. We use smaller cuts (incisions) between your ribs with these less invasive techniques instead of a larger incision to open your chest. Minimally invasive heart surgery offers several benefits over traditional open-heart surgeries, including:
- Faster recovery
- Fewer activity restrictions
- Less pain and scarring
- Lower risk of infection
- Shorter hospital stay
In some cases, a traditional open-heart procedure may be the better option. Your doctor can help you determine what the best treatment might be. Whether you need a minimally invasive or traditional procedure, our cardiac surgeons can perform:
Advanced Cardiac Surgery Resources
Surgery can feel overwhelming. At Baptist Health heart & Vascular Care, we offer a variety of resources to make the experience as seamless as possible.
Meet the Team
To schedule with our team of physicians in Miami-Dade County, call 786-596-1230
To schedule with our team of physicians in Boca Raton or Boynton Beach call 561-955-6300
Frequently Asked Questions
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TAVR is a new transformative technology that was approved by the FDA for patients who are high risk or inoperable in 2011.
TAVR patients have a very fast recovery and are usually in hospital for 2-3 days. The most common approach is through the artery in the groin.
Potential complications of TAVR include stroke, the need for a permanent pacemaker, and a leaky valve. Also, since TAVR is a new technology, we don't know how long the valve will last. Therefore, patients who are low or intermediate risk do very well with minimally invasive valve surgery or traditional sternotomy.
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With a TAVR procedure, performed collaboratively between a cardiac surgeon and an interventional cardiologist, we access the aortic valve through a catheter that is inserted in your chest or leg, which means we do not have to break the chest bone, make large incisions or put the heart on a bypass machine. This approach helps patients avoid the intensive care unit and spend less time in the hospital, with most patients going home within 48 hours of surgery. Patients also experience less pain and a lower risk of infection.
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An aortic dissection is a serious condition in which the inner layer of the aorta, the large blood vessel branching off the heart, tears. Blood flows through the tear, causing the inner and middle layers of the aorta to separate or dissect. If the blood-filled channel ruptures through the outside aortic wall, aortic dissection is often fatal. Symptoms of aortic dissection may be similar to those of other diseases, often leading to delays in diagnosis. However, when an aortic dissection is detected early and treated quickly, the chance of survival greatly improves.
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MICS CABG stands for minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS)/coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). This is one of the newer approaches to coronary artery surgery that accesses the heart through small incisions in the chest. This technique was pioneered by our chief of cardiac surgery, Dr. Joseph McGinn and Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute is the only place in Florida that offers this approach.
During the procedure, a healthy artery from the body is connected to a blocked artery, which allows blood to bypass the blocked artery and keep flowing.
The MICS CABG procedure doesn’t require the surgeon to break the chest bone, and the heart can keep beating during the procedure, which helps improve recovery time, lowers risk of infection and reduces the patient’s hospital stay.
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Minimally invasive valve surgery is performed through a small incision. The data is pretty clear regarding outcomes after minimally invasive valve surgery, including faster recovery, decreased need for blood transfusions, shorter time on the breathing machine, and shorter hospital length of stay.
The most common reasons for not being able to do minimally invasive valve surgery include an aorta that is heavily calcified, small blood vessels in the leg (i.e. femoral artery), or previous open heart operations. That said, patients can still potentially have minimally invasive valve surgery even if they have these conditions. It's important to talk to your surgeon.
Cardiac Surgery Clinical Trials
Baptist Health Heart & Vascular Care is at the forefront of clinical research that will lead to new, more effective heart surgery procedures. If you’d like to be a partner in our robust research program or learn more about our clinical trials, view our list of ongoing studies.
