The old and the old are given a new lease of life with the help of the “heart bridge”!

  Recently, an 84-year-old man accompanied by his family sent a banner for the treatment team of Professor Xu Qibin from the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Changzheng Hospital. He said, “Thank you to the doctors of Changzheng Hospital and Professor Xu Qibin, you have given me a new life”.  It turned out that the old man, surnamed Liu, who was already in his old age, had been suffering from angina pectoris in recent years, and the severe pain had seriously affected his daily life. After examination, he was diagnosed with coronary artery disease, if not treated in time, the risk of sudden death at any time, and due to the severity of the disease, coronary artery bypass surgery must be performed to get a cure. However, Mr. Liu moved around a number of hospitals, but were told that because of his age, and a long history of smoking, poor lung function, the risk of surgery is too high, and even some doctors suggested: go home and conservative treatment.  Later, after being introduced by an acquaintance, Mr. Liu came to Shanghai Changzheng Hospital for cardiothoracic surgery. After a careful review of the patient’s condition and a rigorous evaluation, Professor Xu Qibin, Deputy Director of Cardiac Surgery, concluded that non-stop coronary artery bypass technology could be applied to solve Mr. Liu’s pain. Since the non-stop bypass technique does not require the injury of “heart stopping – resuming”, it has obvious advantages in systemic organ protection and cardiac function recovery, which is more suitable for Mr. Liu.  On January 15, 2015, after careful preoperative discussion and perfect preoperative preparation, and with the support of the Department of Anesthesiology, Mr. Liu underwent surgery. During the operation, Professor Xu, with his excellent technique, built two vascular bridges over the beating heart for the patient. After the blood vessels were connected, the heart, which originally lacked blood supply, was finally recharged with vitality. After the operation, under the close collaboration and supervision of the cardiothoracic surgery team, Mr. Liu recovered smoothly and was discharged from the hospital 2 weeks later.  In recent years, the Cardiothoracic Surgery Department of Changzheng Hospital, under the leadership of Director Wang Zhinong, has successfully completed a series of difficult and complex heart surgeries, benefiting patients as young as 4 years old and as old as 84 years old; the heaviest patient weighed 104 kg and the lightest (adult) weighed only 34 kg; both the correction of complex precordial diseases with 5 kinds of malformations, complex valvuloplasty, as well as emergency coronary artery bypass and large vessel surgery, etc., which have It has initially formed a medical feature based on valve disease and coronary artery disease, and minimally invasive cardiac surgery as an innovation. The cardiothoracic surgeons of Long March Hospital are creating one miracle of life after another with their scientific and rigorous academic attitude, skillful surgical techniques and medical ethics of loving patients and injuries.