of HEART
the heart’s upper chambers. Even with
this in mind, Ms. Martin was far from
a compliant patient after her heart
attack. “I wasn’t going for regular
checkups or taking my medications as
I should,” she recalls.
That would all change. In April
2012, an echocardiogram revealed that
the ASD had worsened and now needed
to be repaired, causing the shortness of
breath that had led Ms. Martin to work
part-time. She knew cardiac surgery
would be necessary. “I didn’t embrace
the idea. You can call it vanity, but
I didn’t want a scar running down
my chest,” she says, referring to the
vertical incision cardiovascular surgeons
make in a patient’s rib (breastbone) to
expose the heart, and the discomfort
and lengthy recovery period that went
with it. “That’s when I was told a
new doctor was joining the hospital
who could perform my surgery without
cutting open my chest,” she says.
Cardiovascular surgeon Subbareddy
Konda, MD, joined Scott & White in
May 2012 and introduced keyhole heart
surgery, a minimally-invasive procedure
that involves making a 3-to-5-inch
incision in the side of the chest between
the ribs. Small instruments are then
inserted through the opening to perform
heart bypass surgery, to repair valvular
disease, or to correct congenital defects,
like Ms. Martin’s.
“The keyhole technique reduces
complications, including blood loss
and infection, requires a shorter
hospitalization and offers a faster
recovery time—from 12 weeks to about
10 days,” says Dr. Konda. “We’ve
come a long way since the first heart
surgeries of the early 1950s. Patients
today feel better and live longer
following surgeries like this. The
keyhole approach has dramatically
improved patient outcomes.”
Sandy Martin is living proof. She
returned to work full-time in March
2013 and is doing her best to live a
healthier life, which includes going for
follow-up visits with her physicians. “I
am so grateful for everything that was
done for me,” she says. “I especially
appreciated the time the staff took to
make sure that my family understood
the procedure I was having. That type
Learn how cardiovascular specialists are now diagnosing heart rhythm disturbances.
sw.org | November 13 The Catalyst
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