He agreed with Galloway that the new technology is useful for certain high risk groups, and adds that he prefers to use off-pump when patients have borderline kidney function that may be aggravated by the heart and lung machine, or when the patient still has good heart function and is in stable condition at the time of surgery and might benefit from a less-invasive procedure.
Aylor falls into the latter category.
"I [had] never been in the hospital a day of my life, never had surgery, but my wife convinced me to go to the doctor [because] I had been getting short of breath," he said. After doctors found a large blockage in his heart, Aylor was told he was going to be transferred to Vanderbilt for open heart surgery.
"My doctor told me they can go through the chest [for the procedure, but] I could be out [of work] for six months," Aylor said, so they decided on a minimally invasive, off pump procedure that accessed the heart through his ribs instead.
John Byrne of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where Aylor received his off-pump bypass, adds that "to become an expert off-pump surgeon, one must essentially dedicate oneself to perform just about all [of these procedures] using this technique."
Indeed, for Aylor, the doctors made all the difference.
"The procedure was great, [my doctor] said this would be perfect for me [but] I never thought it would be as good as it was," Aylor said. "I think they're the best doctors I've ever seen."
A full discussion of this issue by experts contacted by ABC/MedPage Today can be found at http://www.medpagetoday.com/Surgery/ThoracicSurgery/16811.
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