Cardiothoracic surgeon debunks common heart surgery myths

Cardiothoracic surgeon Grigoris Pattakos, Director of the B Cardiac Surgery Clinic at YGEIA, addresses common misconceptions regarding heart surgeries.

Key clarifications include the fact that the heart is only removed from the body during transplants; in all other procedures, it remains in its anatomical position. Pattakos notes that surgical risk is not strictly determined by the duration of the operation, but rather by the patient's preoperative health status.

Regarding anesthesia, the expert states that risks have significantly decreased since the 1960s due to advancements and specialized anesthesiologists. Furthermore, while minimally invasive or percutaneous procedures are common, the safest approach depends on individual patient anatomy rather than a universal rule. Finally, the surgeon emphasizes that a lack of symptoms does not necessarily mean surgery is unnecessary, particularly in cases involving bypass procedures for certain demographics.