Sternum is resting on heart

[VBross]

My dad is 77 and had triple bypass almost 20 years ago.  He has several blockages again, and also has a valve that has gone bad.  I think it is the tricuspid, but couldn't be for sure.  This was discovered during an angiogram on Dec 15 and he is growing weary of all of the testing to see if he is a candidate and when and how the operation will go.  It was confirmed today that the valve needs attention very soon, after he had an ultrasound of the valve today.  Our concern, as a family, is we have been told that his heart is dangerously close to his sternum.  I have tried to do several searches and have not found any information on this.  I believe that it is a cause of his previous surgery, as from the reaction they had from the surgeon.  Is this an unusual occurance?  Is it possible to still cut the sternum, is there a careful way to do that?  We hope to hear from the surgeon this week the plan.  I have heard of other methods of surgery, like through the ribs, but with him also needing bypass, not sure how that would go.  Any opinions or previous experience with this issue of the heart being very close to the sternum, would be helpful.  

[chrisr]

Hello VBross,

3 years ago prior to an emergency 2nd CABG, a Dacron patch used to repair an aortic aneurysm and AVR done in my 1st CABG in 2000 was found to be just a few mms below my sternum.

I could not find a hospital willing to risk such a close situation except for the excellent surgeons at CCF who successfully completed the 2nd CABG despite the odds and a lot of scar adhesion tissue.
I would strongly suggest contacting CCF for at least a second opinion.

Hope this helps and best of luck

ChrisR

[Shelster56]

Hi,

Unfortunately I can't add any extra information but have to say I'm in a somewhat similar situation. I've had two heart surgeries and the second one was complicated by the fact that my right ventricle is stuck to my sternum thanks to scar tissue. It's still stuck and this makes any redo operation (which I may be looking at due to an aneurysm) risky.  It's a very scary thought!

Best of luck to you and your dad.