Show Some Heart Facts R is far safer to undergo cardiac surgery than to risk having a heart attack In fact the risk of not surviving an operation is less than 2 At least 59 million Americana— about a quarter of the population— have one or more types of cardiovascular disease Including 50 million with high blood pressure Since 1900 heart disease has been America top killer each year except 191 8 when the Spanish flu was No 1 In 1995 mors than 55 million Americans had cardiovascular procedures— an increase of 355 from 1979 This year about 6 million will undergo such surgery me through the tangle of wires and tubes coming out of every part of me To my surprise I felt no pain Saved by medical science My experience led me to inquire further about the operation I'd undergone Perhaps I thought I could write about it and ease the minds of others To better understand the pro- Another turning point he added was the development in the 9HC)s of TPA (tissue plasminogen acti1 vator) which dissolves bkxxl ckxs This drug can stop a heart attack in its tracks if administered in time soon had the opportunity to witness the technological advances Dr Bren described “You should see heart surgery if you're going to write about it" Dr Cor-s- o I told me and so was invited to observe a operation that he performed on a man my age Gowned in green I watched the incredibly precise handiwork of Corso and his team of seven doctors I triple-bypa- ss surgical assistants technicians and specialized nurses I saw how the heart was disconnected from the vessels for 45 minutes completely emptied of bkxxl for "empty-hmachine eart surgery” and replaced by a heart-lun- g hlmxi into the patient's txxly pumping oxygenated Don't ignore chest pains Medical breakthroughs combined with improved lifestyles — healthy diets and exercise no smoking — have “probably cut in half the mortality risk Ihxn having a heart attack over the last throe decades" Dr Bren said And many of tlx cardiac experts 1 interviewed said mortality rates could he slashed even further if people saw their doctors or went to an emergency nxin at the first sign of suspicious symptoms — especially chest pains or pressure accompanied hy shortness of hrcalh weakness dizziness and a cold sweat Chest pains need not be slabBren said They can include simple discomfort typically in the front of the chest right bing to merit investigation or left and extending anywhere from the jaw to the belly button andor into the arms An exciting future One of the major developments in cardiac can: is Minimally Invasive Direct Coro- cedure I inspected my postoperative record and interviewed cardiologists and surgeons Today cardiac surgery has become almost routine: This year an estimated 6 million Americans will undergo it If you or a loved one are among them you need not be all that afraid While it is normal to be nervous and concerned as I was the risk of not surviving nary Artery Bypass (known as MIDCAB) already in use in some hospitals To get to the heart surgeons make small incisions in the chest rather than splitting the breastbone and separating the ribs Typically the sutgeon grafts a mam- mary artery onto the diseased coronary artery while the heart continues beating The heart-lun- g machine usually can be dispensed with MIDCAB works best for single-bypaoperations Patients go home in two or throe days and are on the procedure is less than 2 per- cent And if you are diagnosed with heart disease it is far safer to undergo heart surgery than to risk having a potentially tal heart attack body again bypassing the hcait Heart surgery took oil' when the heart-lun- g niaehine was invented" fa- ss Only after my operation did begin to comprehend that I had been saved primarily by I their feet in two to three weeks advances in heart medicine that allow consistently high rates of recovery While heart disease is still the biggest killer in the US new treatments medicines and surgical techniques have greatly reduced the risks of surgery The bypass procedure was developed in the late '60s “In order to do a bypass the heart has to be stopped and it has to be empty of blood" Dr Brrn explained “For that to happen you have to have a machine that can receive used blood from the body put oxygen into it and pump it back into the the Washington Hospital Cen- Not long ago YOU BBULB PBBB BKBLBBCR WIN A BPBBTi MkT I returned to ter to reminisce with Cecile Zimmer “The most astounding thing when I went back to sleep alter hearing and seeing you" I told her “was that I dreamt an entire piano performance of Chopin's Military Polonaise and I was humming it when I woke again the next morning" As it happens I was then working on a biography of Chopin but it took the magic of surviving open-hea- rt surgery to make me dream music and fill me with boundless opti)K mism about my future |