A heart surgery is performed to treat a number of heart ailments. A heart surgery may be required under the following conditions of cardiac disorder:
• Treating conditions of heart failure or coronary heart disease
• To control abnormal heartbeats
• Fixing a heart valve that doesn’t work well
• To place medical devices
• To replace a damaged heart with a healthy heart
Your doctor may prescribe you a number of alternate suggestions after going through a thorough study of your symptoms. Such non-surgical treatments may include changes in diet or lifestyle, medications or medical procedures. In case these options don’t work, or your condition is critical, your doctor may suggest you to undergo a surgery.
Specialists involved
You may consult a cardiologist or a cardiothoracic surgeon, who would decide the kind of surgery that you would need to go through depending upon the type of your heart disease. A cardiologist is one who specializes in diagnosing and treating heart diseases. A cardiothoracic surgeon performs a cardiothoracic surgery that is a specialized surgery of the heart and the lungs. Your doctors will talk to you regarding your current health conditions and suggest you necessary tests for confirmation. After the results come out, your doctors would discuss the results and help you take the right decision.
Evaluation of the medical conditions
Your doctors will discuss with you about the following:
• Your age and general health condition
• The kind and intensity of the heart problem that you are suffering from, and its symptoms. Your doctor may enquire about how long you have been noticing such symptoms
• Any record of past treatment of the heart, relating to surgeries, medications or any other medical procedure undertaken
• Any family history of heart diseases
• A record of any other health issues, such as high blood pressure or diabetes
Diagnostic tests
Your doctor may suggest you to go through any of the following tests to know more about the health of your heart and decide upon whether you need a heart surgery, the type of surgery and when to take it. Here are the tests you may have to go through:
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
It is a non-invasive painless test which monitors the electrical activity of the heart. Test results show the rate and rhythm at which the heart is beating. An EKG helps to indicate signs of heart damage or signs of previous or current heart attack.
Stress test
This is a test taken when your heart is beating fast under stress. It is easier to diagnose a heart under such conditions. Under a stress test, you need to exercise to make your heart beat fast and work hard. Under such conditions, your blood pressure and EKG is checked.
Angiography
It is a test that shows the insides of the coronary arteries with the use of dye and special x-rays.
Chest X-ray
A chest x-ray is taken to view images of the organs inside the chest, such as your heart, lungs and the blood vessels.
Aortogram
It is an angiogram of the aorta. An aortogram helps to show the location and size of the aortic aneurysm.
These are some of the tests performed to confirm any signs of heart damage and the types of heart diseases. Your doctor would suggest you whether you need to undergo a surgery depending upon the condition of your heart. For further queries about the kind of test that you may need to take, or related issues about a cardiothoracic surgery or a congenital heart disease, you must consult a surgeon.