Heart disease is one of the leading causes of death today. The most common cause of heart disease is cardiovascular disease. Today, 6.7 percent of people over the age of 20 have cardiovascular disease and how young is the age range? This rate is quite frightening considering that it is. Thus, 2 out of 10 people under the age of 65 die due to cardiovascular disease. Especially diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, unhealthy diet, sedentary lifestyle disrupt the vascular structure and lead to occlusion and hardening of the veins. When the vessels that supply the heart are blocked, it can lead to serious consequences, up to a heart attack.
In order for the heart's nutrition to continue, this blocked vessel needs to be opened. A few of these there is a way; The easiest way is to show the clogged area by injecting dye into the vessels with a method called angiography, and to try to open the blockage with the help of specially produced wires and balloons, and then a “stent” Ensuring that the occluded area remains open with artificial vascular patches called vascular patches. Although vascular occlusions can usually be cleared with this method, things are not always so easy. The veins may not be opened with simple wires and balloons, especially in the elderly, diabetics, people with calcifications in their veins or those whose veins have been blocked for a long time.
Bypass for veins that cannot be opened with angiography. With open heart surgery, which we call, the heart can be fed by moving a vessel in another part of the body. However, for open heart surgery patients, pain, prolonged hospitalization, delayed; It also brings with it difficulties such as healing and the risk of re-occlusion of the inserted vessels. For all these reasons, some patients may not want to have open heart surgery.
Thanks to technological developments, there are now a new generation of specialized, reinforced wires, balloons and supporting systems. In other words, vessels that cannot be opened with classical methods can now be opened with advanced materials and of course the skills of experienced cardiologists in this field. “Chronic Total Occlusion” This procedure, or simply called the CTO procedure, is a great chance to offer patients an option other than open heart surgery, when competent hands and appropriate materials are used.
Although it is a much longer and more difficult procedure compared to classical angiography and stenting, when evaluated in terms of patient comfort, it is incomparably more advantageous than open heart surgery. Namely: The patient is awake from the beginning to the end of the procedure. You can be discharged the next day after the procedure. He does not have any wounds that need to be healed, except for a small entrance in the groin. For all these reasons, open heart surgery seems risky. or it can be a reason for preference by patients and their physicians who have reservations in this regard. The most important point to remember is this: This procedure must be performed by experienced cardiologists specialized for CTO.
Some stubborn and hardened vascular occlusions cannot be cleared despite all these specialized methods and the experience and efforts of the physician. In such cases, patients still have a chance to bypass, that is, "bypass or CTO". They don't need to make a choice. More before the bypass “last attempt before the root” can be thought of as And this is for the patients. it's refreshing.
To summarize, all kinds of tools are necessary for feeding the heart and opening the clogged vessels, which are necessary for heart health. Showing effort is important. Today, advanced medical technology is increasingly producing solutions that also take into account the comfort of patients. The CTO procedure can be considered one of the latest wonders of technology in that it offers patients an option other than a major surgery such as open heart surgery, and it looks like it will be developed much more in the near future. >
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