Joseph Bowers
Restoration surgery offers hope for longtime heart failure patients
For the nearly 5 million Americans who suffer from congestive heart failure, the everyday act of breathing can be a tiresome chore.
Because their hearts pump out blood so inefficiently, blood flow may slow down, even back up, and cause congestion that leads to
shortness of breath.
These heart patients – who will be joined by 550,000 more such patients each year, according to the American Heart Association
-- think twice about shopping at the mall, gardening or socializing with friends. Many have conceded that they might never again
partake in activities they once enjoyed.
But what if these weakened hearts could be restored? What if they could be remodeled into more efficient organs?
That’s precisely what’s happening with a relatively new cardiac technology known as “surgical ventricular
restoration.” Now offered at Samaritan Heart & Vascular Institute, the procedure is changing long-term outlooks for select
heart failure patients.
One such patient is Lebanon resident Joseph Bowers, 61, who chose to have the restoration surgery earlier this year. About 10 years
ago, he suffered a heart attack that damaged his left ventricle -- a lower chamber of the heart and the one that supplies most of
the heart’s pumping power. Over the years, his diseased heart continued to weaken and hinder his breathing.
“I was very short of breath,” Bowers said. “It was hard for me to walk, especially on any kind of incline. My
doctor explained that part of my heart muscle became so diseased after my heart attack that my heart’s ejection fraction (a
measure of the heart’s pumping ability) was only 25 percent.
“If I knew what a difference it would make, I would have had the (restoration) surgery earlier,” Bowers continued.
“Now, I don’t lose breath nearly so easily as I did before. I don’t tire on walks, I can mow the lawn without
stopping to rest, and I even helped my cousin put up some sheet rock recently.”
Mark Taylor, MD, the cardiac surgeon who worked with Bowers, said that ventricular restoration surgery is a viable tool for sicker
patients, those who have tried numerous medications with minimal success. It’s for those who have suffered a heart attack or
other cardiac event that has left the heart scarred and weak and forced to work harder to facilitate breathing.
With each labored heartbeat, the weakened area of the heart bulges out of its normal elliptical shape – the shape that allows
the muscle fibers to be oriented in the 60-degree angle most efficient for producing maximum ejection fraction.
“It’s a vicious circle,” Taylor said. “As the heart weakens, it enlarges as it tries to compensate, and that
increases tension on the heart’s walls and leads to even more weakness.”
During ventricular restoration surgery, the cardiac surgeon makes a small incision in the ventricle, locates the scarred or dead
tissue, and stitches around the border of the weakened area to separate it from the healthy tissue. Then, the surgeon remodels the
heart back to its original elliptical, and most efficient, shape.
Patients typically will remain in the hospital for about five days, while they work with Samaritan Heart & Vascular
Institute’s cardiac team to gradually increase their activity levels. Patients can expect noticeable results, including much
easier breathing. In the case of Joseph Bowers, his ejection fraction rose to 45 percent immediately after surgery.
“We’re very happy we can offer restoration surgery to our patients,” Taylor said. “This can serve people who
were running out of options to manage their debilitating heart failure. It can make their lives more manageable.”
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