Heart Scars

Q: One year after a double bypass, doctors said my heart has scarred shut, and I need another surgery. What caused this problem, and what options exist?

A: Bypass vessels, particularly when veins are used in contrast to arteries, can clog or narrow (note President Bill Clinton’s recent incident), but it usually occurs years after the surgery. Damage to the bypass vessel during surgery sometimes triggers early scarring. In any event, an obstructed bypass vessel can often be propped open with a heart stent, a wire mesh tunnel that is inserted with a catheter, as Clinton had done.

Heart disease | Surgery

Heartbeat

Cardiac Test Basics

Please explain the difference between an electrocardiogram and an echocardiogram. What exactly do these tests tell doctors about the heart?

Give the Gift of Life

My brother-in-law just turned 50 and needs a new heart. We sometimes hear that wealthy people get donor organs quicker than others. Is this true? How long is the usual wait for a new heart?

Low-Dose Aspirin for Heart Health

What is the latest information about taking daily baby aspirin to help the heart?

Heart Defect Often Causes No Symptoms

I had a stroke in 2003, and a diagnostic test showed a “hole” in my heart with no right-to-left shunt. The shunt didn’t show up on a different kind of test in 2009, either. I came through the stroke fine because I went to the hospital right away and have been on warfarin ever since. My question is: If there’s no shunt, is the hole present?

Surgery Corrects Heart Rhythm

Q: How does the Maze treatment for atrial fibrillation work, and what does it involve? A: The Maze procedure is open heart surgery to eliminate rapid heartbeats. It involves making a series of incisions in the top portion of the heart, the atria. In experienced hands, the procedure is successful in more than 90 percent [...]