Mount Carmel offers a variety of minimally invasive heart procedures.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair

An abdominal aortic aneurysm is a bulging, weakened area in the wall of the aorta, the largest artery in the body. Because an aneurysm may continue to increase in size and eventually cause a life threatening rupture, surgery if often performed to repair the affected area. In a minimally invasive endovascular aneurysm repair a small mesh stent is inserted through an artery in the groin and fed into the aorta to "patch" the affected area .

Atrial Fibrillation Ablation

Normally, electricity flows through the heart in a regular, measured pattern. Sometimes a "short circuit" occurs in the electrical flow which disturbs normal heart rhythms. Medicine often helps, but in some cases it is necessary to destroy the tissue causing the short circuit. Catheter ablation is a minimally invasive procedure that involves inserting catheters into a blood vessel and winding the catheters up into the heart. Once the catheter locates and destroys (ablates) the abnormal heart tissue, the electrical disturbance is gone and a healthy heart rhythm is restored.

Endoscopic Vein Harvesting

In cardiac bypass surgery, a healthy blood vessel from the patient's leg is used to bypass blocked or damaged arteries in the heart. Mount Carmel pioneered a minimally invasive technique called endoscopic vein harvesting in which the vein is harvested through one to three small incisions rather than one large one. This technique results in less muscle and tissue damage, is significantly less painful and has a quicker recovery time.

Epicardial Lead Placement (Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy)

Epicardial lead placement is a minimally invasive procedure in which pacemaker leads are placed directly on the surfact of the heart. While it previously required open-heart surgery, this new technique can results in less trauma, less pain and a considerably faster recovery.