Press Release

NMH leads way with beating heart surgery:


A revolutionary procedure is sweeping the world of heart care.  “Beating heart” surgery is said to be safer and more cost effective than the counterpart—the standard coronary artery bypass, which requires the use of heart and lung machines to stop the patient’s heart and lungs during a segment of the procedure.

While other hospitals in the state of Michigan are below the 50 percent mark for patients treated with the “beating heart” procedure, Northern Michigan Hospital is leading the charge toward healthier patients, shorter hospital stays and fewer chances of complication by performing “beating heart” surgeries on 97 percent of its coronary artery bypass surgery patients.

“The procedure greatly reduces the incidence of a variety of post-operative complications while shortening the hospital stay of the patient,” Dr. Brad Vazales said.  

Although beating heart surgery has been around for many years, its use was limited in the past to only those arteries on the front side of the heart.  Due to advances in technology and surgical instruments, surgeons can now reach arteries located anywhere on the heart.  Because the beating heart procedure is now possible for all blocked vessels, its usage at NMH has increased.  

A standard coronary artery bypass procedure requires the use of a heart and lung machine to allow the surgeon to stop the patient’s heart and lungs during the segment of the procedure when the surgeon sews the new veins to the blocked coronary arteries.  With “beating heart” surgery, the heart and lung machine is not needed, resulting in faster recuperation and less time spent on a respirator and fewer complications.

Data recently presented at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery’s annual meeting stated that death rates from coronary bypass surgery can be cut by almost 50 percent in high-risk patients when the heart is allowed to beat during the surgery.  A trial of 913 patients showed a reduction in the risk of stroke and other post-operative complications as compared with traditional surgery in which the heart is stopped.  

Dr. Vazales and Dr. Richard Downey perform the majority of heart surgeries at NMH with the beating heart technique.

According to the Cardiothoracic Surgery Network (CSN), less than 15 percent of all heart surgeons used the “beating heart” procedure more that 90 percent of the time in 2002.  CSN is actively trying to increase understanding and knowledge of the “beating heart” procedure and recently conducted a surgeon survey to find ways to increase the use of the “beating heart” procedure.