Heart surgery in Oklahoma

An arrhythmia is an abnormal heart rhythm. An arrhythmia happens when there is a problem with the electrical system that is supposed to control a steady heartbeat. With a problem in the electrical system, your heart may beat too fast, too slow, or irregularly. Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common type of abnormal heart rhythm.

The heart is a muscle that pumps oxygen-rich blood to all parts of the body. When you have heart failure, the heart can’t pump as well as it should. Or the heart muscle can’t relax and fill the pumping chamber with blood. Blood and fluid may back up into the lungs. This causes heart failure. Some parts of the body also don’t get enough oxygen-rich blood. This means they can't work well. These problems lead to the symptoms of heart failure, including shortness of breath, weight gain and swelling, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, belly pain and cough.

CAD is a disease that affects the arteries in your heart. These arteries supply oxygen and nutrients to your heart muscle. Sometimes, a fatty substance called plaque builds up along the inner walls of these arteries. This process is called atherosclerosis.

Aortic dissection is a medical emergency. Early diagnosis and treatment are important. An aortic dissection is a tear (dissection) in the wall of the body’s main artery (aorta). The aorta sends blood from your heart to the rest of your body. A tear causes blood to get in between the aorta’s three layers. This reduces the amount of oxygen and nutrients that can get to your body’s organs.

Your cardiologist might suggest CABG to treat blocked or narrowed coronary arteries. CABG is a surgical technique used to restore healthy blood flow to the heart, improve heart function and reduce symptoms. Our experienced cardiac surgeons perform both on-pump CABG and off-pump CABG. The procedure is chosen based on the severity of the blockage in the coronary arteries.

Heart transplantation can improve survival, physical function, and quality of life for eligible patients with end-stage heart disease. You may need a heart transplant if your heart doesn't respond to medical therapy or a VAD.

If you are eligible for transplant listing, you will be placed on the waitlist. Wait times can vary from a few months to several years, depending on your size, blood type, tissue type and organ availability. A heart surgeon will replace your damaged heart with a healthy donor heart once one becomes available for you.

A heart transplant replaces a severely diseased or failing heart with a healthy donor heart, restoring the heart's ability to pump blood effectively. Your cardiologist will work with our dedicated transplant team and provide personalized care every step of the heart transplant journey, from evaluation and donor matching to surgery and lifelong follow-up.

A defibrillator wire is inserted into the heart and connected to an implanted device in the chest. It can send out electricity to either pace or shock the heart back into normal rhythm. This can be lifesaving when life-threatening rhythms are found.

A device may be used to close off the left atrial appendage in some cases. This can prevent stroke without having to use lifelong blood thinners. The left atrial appendage is the area within the heart where most blood clots form. By closing this area off, any clots that form there cannot get out to travel to the brain to cause a stroke. The device is implanted without heart surgery. This device is not right for everyone. It is generally considered in those who are at high risk for stroke, as well as high risk for bleeding. Even with the device, you may need to take blood thinners in the short-term.

Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is a procedure that replaces a diseased aortic valve with a man-made valve. The TAVR procedure may be recommended as an alternative to open heart surgery. The old heart valve is not removed but acts like an anchor for the new heart valve. This procedure is done through small cuts (incisions) using a long, thin tube (catheter), X-rays, and ultrasound.

Cardiac surgeons treat complex heart valve disease to repair damaged heart valves through open heart surgery and minimally invasive procedures, including TAVR and MitraClip™. When one or both of your valves do not open or close correctly, it can lead to reduced blood flow, cause the heart to work harder, and result in symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, chest pain, fainting, or even heart failure.