open-heart surgery

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American Heritage Dictionary:

o·pen-heart surgery

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(ō'pən-härt')
n.
Surgery in which the thoracic cavity is opened to expose the heart and the blood is recirculated and oxygenated by a heart-lung machine.


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Any surgical procedure opening the heart and exposing one or more of its chambers, most often to repair valve disease or correct congenital heart malformations ( congenital heart disease). Invention of the heart-lung machine ( artificial heart), which allows the heart to be stopped during surgery, made it possible. The first successful open-heart surgery was performed in the U.S. in 1953 by John H. Gibbon, Jr., to close an atrial septal defect.

For more information on open-heart surgery, visit Britannica.com.


n.

Surgery in which the thoracic cavity is opened to expose the heart and the blood is recirculated and oxygenated through a heart-lung machine.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'open-heart surgery'

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Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to open-heart surgery, see:
  • Procedures - open-heart surgery: repair of exposed heart or coronary arteries while blood is circulated mechanically


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Copyrights:

Mentioned in

Night of the Bloody Transplant (1968 Horror Film)
heart-lung machine (mechanical device – in medicine)
Bellingham: Health Care (city, Washington)