Cardiac Surgery

At Summerlin Hospital, we perform a comprehensive range of surgical procedures to help patients with advanced heart disease. This includes valvular surgery, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), innovative coronary artery bypass surgery and other revascularization procedures.

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation

Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) uses a pump and artificial lung to function as the heart and lungs during the healing process from various injuries and conditions, including pneumonia, flu, pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lungs), heart failure and trauma. It is a form of partial cardiopulmonary bypass at the bedside.

Heart Valve Surgery

Some patients are born with defective heart valves, or their valves have been damaged due to infection, rheumatic fever or simply getting older. This can affect how blood flows through the heart. Surgeons at Summerlin Hospital are recognized nationally for their expertise in valvular surgery (including mitral valve repair and aortic valve replacement). They perform innovative valve repair and replacement procedures using advanced surgical techniques, valve devices and prostheses.

Coronary Bypass Surgery

Many patients with heart disease have serious blockages in the arteries that supply blood to the heart. When minimally invasive techniques, such as angioplasty, can’t be used to improve their conditions, patients may benefit from coronary artery bypass surgery. Surgeons at Summerlin Hospital use advanced strategies and techniques to perform bypass surgery, including conventional procedures using the heart-lung machine and newer “off-pump” techniques.

Traditional Bypass

During this procedure, surgeons make an incision down the center of the chest and separate the breastbone to reach the heart. The patient’s heart must be stopped during the procedure, so a heart-lung machine is used to pump blood through the body.

Surgeons then graft a section of a healthy blood vessel — usually from the leg — onto the affected vessel to reroute blood flow around the blockage. This procedure can restore blood flow to or “revascularize” the heart. It also may reduce chest pain and lower the risk of heart attack.

Off-Pump Bypass

Surgeons at Summerlin Hospital also use newer procedures that enable them to perform bypass surgery without stopping the heart. They can immobilize a section of the heart with specially designed stabilizers. The rest of the heart continues beating normally so a heart-lung machine isn’t used during the bypass procedure.

Patients who undergo off-pump procedures may have a reduced risk of developing some of the complications that may be associated with the heart-lung machine, such as swelling, clotting and neurological problems.

Surgery For Atrial Arrhythmias

Using a combination of approaches including minimally invasive techniques, surgeons at Summerlin Hospital can reduce or eliminate the very common electrical irregularity of the heart known as atrial fibrillation. This can be done as a primary treatment for this problem or in association with valve or bypass surgery.

Thoracic-Abdominal Aortic Surgery

Patients with aortic dissections, as well as those with ascending, arch and descending aneurysms, choose Summerlin Hospital for complex reconstruction surgery. Deep hypothermic circulatory arrest, as well as perfusion-assisted techniques, are performed. In some cases, the surgeon may be able to complete the procedure without the use of the heart lung machine.