What does it mean when a person has to get a ring in their heart after a triple bypass?
A fellow caregiver asked...
What does it mean when a person has triple heart bypass and has to get a ring in their heart?
Expert Answer
James Frank is Assistant Professor of Medicine and Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at the V.A. Medical Center in San Francisco.
A triple heart bypass is an operation that bypasses three coronary arteries, or coronary arteries in three places. A ring is a device that's used to repair a valve in the heart that's disease, usually either the mitral or aortic valve. The ring has to be placed by open heart surgery, and the bypass could be done at the same time.