Hello Everyone! I hope that your rotations are going well. Yesterday I helped with a minimally invasive procedure known as a Heart-Port Case. In this type of procedure there is no median sternotomy made. Instead a para-sternal incision is made and the arterial cannula and antegrade cardioplegia cannula are inserted. The venous cannula is inserted femorally and the retrograde cardioplegia is inserted into the neck line by anesthesia. There is also no traditional cross clamp applied. A balloon serves as a cross clamp and is located on the inside of the arterial cannula. The balloon is inflated to a pressure of 450 mmHg (which we have to monitor during the case).
These are very time consuming cases to do. According to my preceptors, these cases were more commonly done about 10 years ago but are now making a "come back" because the company has made some changes to the cannulas. If you guys would like anymore information about this type of case, just let me know. The Edwards Life Science Representative said he would be more than happy to send information to anyone in the Midwestern Program!
Bethany
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