Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery of Mon General Hospital offers a wide variety of complex open-heart surgery and heart valve procedures. Approximately 350 open-heart cases are performed at the hospital each year.

Mon General Hospital’s cardiac team offers comprehensive life-saving care to north-central West Virginia, performing open-heart procedures generally only available in major, metropolitan medical centers. Because of this, Mon General has become a regional referral center for heart surgery, with patients coming from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland and throughout West Virginia. Using the latest heart surgery technology, advanced medical equipment and surgical techniques, our goal is to work together to achieve the heart patient's return to an active, rewarding life.

Procedures performed at Mon General Hospital 

• Bypass Surgery – Coronary artery bypass surgery is done to provide new blood flow around partially or completely blocked coronary arteries. With a new open “bypass system” the heart can receive its much needed blood supply. Blocked arteries are bypassed using saphenous veins (which are from the leg), the internal mammary artery (the vessel that runs along the inside of the breast bone), or an arterial graft from other areas of the body. The bypass grafts are used by the surgeon as an alternate vessel to deliver blood to the heart muscle below the point of the blockage.

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• Heart Valve Surgery – The valves of the heart can become diseased and malfunction. Some valves become narrowed or stenosed, and block the flow of the blood through them. Others can become leaky or regurgitant – allowing blood to flow backwards through them. During heart valve surgery, one or more heart valves can be repaired or replaced. Repair means the structural problem is reinforced using sutures and/or rings to improve valve function. Replacement means your own diseased valve is removed and a new prosthetic valve is inserted in its place. The decision whether to repair or replace a valve often can’t be made until the time of surgery.

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• Beating Heart Surgery – “Beating heart” or “off pump” coronary artery bypass, also known as OPCAB. In conventional coronary artery bypass surgery, the patient is placed on a cardiopulmonary bypass “pump.” The heart is stopped, the bypass procedure is performed, the heart is re-started and the patient is taken off the pump. Many procedures are done this way and the procedure is generally very safe. However, there are times when “off pump” coronary bypass may be favored.

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• TMR – Some patients have coronary artery blockages and disabling angina, but are not candidates for coronary artery bypass surgery. This is usually because the arteries that are blocked are too small to bypass. TMR or Laser Heart Surgery allows surgeons to create new channels of blood flow in the heart muscle using the laser.

 To learn more about our cardiothoracic surgeons and the comprehensive services within our HeartCare Center, please see the Related links on the right navigation bar.