The most common reasons a person needs heart surgery are because they have:
- Coronary artery disease
- Heart valve disease
- An enlarged aortic artery (where the main artery that carries oxygen-rich blood to the body is enlarged or has burst).
Types of heart surgery
The types of heart surgery we perform at Royal Brompton and Harefield hospitals are:
- Aortic surgery and aortic root replacement
- Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and on pump/off pump surgery (also known as heart bypass surgery)
- MIDCAB/MINICAB bypass surgery
- Valvular disease surgery
- Endoscopic vein harvesting
- Heart valve surgery.
Find out more about how to prepare for heart surgery, what to expect from it and how to look after yourself afterwards in our heart surgery services information.
Coronary artery disease is also known as 'ischaemic heart disease' and occurs when a fatty substance called 'atheroma' develops on the inside of an artery.
Our congenital heart disease (CHD) centre is one of the largest in the country. Clinical teams treat more than 10,000 patients with these diseases each year.
Useful information
Learn more about coming in for your appointment
You can also download a PDF version of our patient information booklets:
After your heart operation - Royal Brompton Hospital - February 2022 (PDF, 2.2MB)