Bypass plus angioplasty: The best of both worlds?
Hybrid heart surgery combines two procedures that restore blood flow to blocked arteries in the heart. One is coronary bypass grafting (CABG), which transplants blood vessels from elsewhere in the body to bypass the blocked artery. The other is angioplasty, which uses a tiny balloon to open the blockages, plus a tiny mesh tube (stent) to keep the artery open. The hybrid approach takes advantage of the best aspects of each technique and often eliminates the need for a heart-lung machine.
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