Hi!
My brother had emergency heart surgery one week ago in Paris, France.
It turned out to be an aortic dissection as a result of Marfan syndrome
(unsuspected in our family). The surgery went well, but it has been
reported to me that this was all done without cracking open the rib
cage. Is there a part of the rib cage that can be spread apart far
enough for some kinds of surgeries, or are stents used? What kinds of
newer techniques are being employed for this kind of surgery? Are they
done in the U.S., or perhaps not yet due to restrictions by the F.D.A.
(particularily in the case of stents comprised of "foreign" materials)?
Just curious…
-Robert
If it truely was an emergency then the inital approach may have been a
lateral thoracotomy which is done on the left side between the 2nd and 3rd
ribs. This gives rapid access to the aorta for cross clamping to stop the
bleeding. The rest of the definitive repair would likely be done via a
sternotomy, where the sternum is cracked, not the ribs. Also your family
likely need screening if it was indeed Marfans.
Robert Lowe <Robert.H.L…@lawrence.edu> wrote in article
<325065F8.4…@lawrence.edu>…
> Hi!
>The surgery went well, but it has been reported to me that this was all
done without cracking open the rib
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -
> cage.