Heart Surgery

If you’re experiencing a heart condition that can’t be corrected with medication or other conservative treatments, you may benefit from heart surgery. Although it may sound scary, heart surgery is actually less invasive, less risky and more successful than ever before, thanks to advances in surgical techniques and operating technology.

For more information or to make an appointment, call 859.313.2255. To find a cardiologist online, visit our provider directory.

Groundbreaking Heart Treatments

At CHI Saint Joseph Health, our heart specialists repair heart conditions using the best surgical equipment and the latest cutting-edge treatments, including:

TAVR: A Minimally Invasive Alternative for Aortic Valve Replacement

Transcatheter aortic-valve replacement (TAVR) is a minimally invasive heart procedure for patients with severe aortic stenosis. TAVR is an exciting option because it allows surgeons to replace your valve without making a large opening in your chest. Instead, cardiac surgeons at CHI Saint Joseph Health insert a replacement valve into your body using a catheter threaded into an artery in your leg or through a small incision between your ribs. Your heart continues to beat throughout the TAVR procedure.

Reducing Your Stroke Risk with LARIAT

Atrial fibrillation (A-fib) is a heart rhythm disorder that can lead to clot formation and stroke. Patients who need more than medication may benefit from treatment with an innovative device called the LARIAT, which is used to isolate a part of the heart where clots typically form in people with A-fib. CHI Saint Joseph Health heart surgeons perform this minimally invasive procedure using catheter-based technology that minimizes risks and gets patients back on their feet much more quickly than open surgery.

Ablation to Get Your Heart Rhythm Back

Another effective option for A-fib is surgical ablation, a minimally invasive procedure that targets the source of the problem. A thin, flexible wire, called a catheter, is threaded into a vein in your groin and up into your heart. Electrodes on the end of the catheter create a 3D map of the heart, allowing your doctor to pinpoint the tissue causing the abnormal patterns. The catheter then sends energy in the form of heat or extreme cold to treat those small areas, restoring your regular rhythm.

MitraClip: A Minimally Invasive Alternative for Mitral Regurgitation

Heart surgeons at CHI Saint Joseph Health can help get your mitral valve back on track with a revolutionary device known as the MitraClip. The MitraClip is a small metal clip that helps correct mitral regurgitation, a condition in which your heart’s mitral valve flaps don’t close tightly, allowing blood to leak into your heart’s left atrium. Eventually, mitral regurgitation can lead to advanced heart failure. Using this device, we can make mitral valve repairs using minimally invasive catheter-based technology rather than open-chest surgery.

Help for Aortic Aneurysm: EVAR

An aortic aneurysm is a bulge or weakness in the aorta, the largest artery in your body. If an aortic aneurysm ruptures, the results can be serious or even deadly. A procedure known as endovascular aortic repair (EVAR) could save your life. During the procedure, your doctor makes a small surgical cut near your groin and inserts a stent (a metal coil) and a manmade (synthetic) graft through the cut into your femoral artery. Your doctor places the stent in your aorta where the aneurysm is located, reinforcing the aorta and reducing your risk of a dangerous rupture.

Robotic Options for More Precision, Less Incision

CHI Saint Joseph Health’s cardiac surgeons are specially trained in the da Vinci® Surgical System, the most minimally invasive technology available today. The robot allows our surgeons to make more precise movements through smaller skin incisions. Although your surgeon is in control at all times, robotic assistance gives them enhanced surgical capabilities. Robotic assistance may be used during heart surgeries such as mitral valve repair, revascularization procedures and bypass procedures.

CABG: Creating a New Path for Blood Flow

Also known as heart bypass surgery, coronary artery bypass grafts (CABG) surgery is open-heart surgery requiring general anesthesia. During bypass surgery, the surgeon removes a piece of a healthy blood vessel from your leg, arm or chest wall to use as a graft to create a new path for blood flow around a blocked artery. One end of the healthy graft is sewn to the blood vessel just below the blocked artery. The other end of the graft is sewn above the blocked artery. Blood can then flow around the blocked area. After the procedure, blood moves more freely through the coronary arteries, lowering the risk of heart attack.

Contact a Heart & Vascular Care Specialist

Find skilled heart and vascular care at any of our Lexington and central Kentucky-area locations:

• Flaget Memorial Hospital—Bardstown and Elizabethtown
• Saint Joseph Berea
• Saint Joseph East—Lexington
• Saint Joseph Hospital—Lexington
• Saint Joseph London
• Saint Joseph Mount Sterling