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Cardiac Surgery
Surgery expertise close to home.
Cape Cod Hospital – one of just three community hospitals in Massachusetts licensed to perform cardiac surgery – has been performing cardiac surgery for 10 years. In that time, hundreds of Cape Cod patients have benefited from expert care close to home and family. The program is affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, an internationally renowned cardiovascular surgery center in Boston.
We have assembled a superb team at CCH, including two board-certified Cardiac Surgeons; Chief of Cardiac Surgery Robert J. Rizzo, MD, FACS; and Paul Pirundini, MD, as well as dedicated Cardiac Scrub Technologists, OR Nurses, Physician Assistants, Anesthetists, and expert Perfusionists.
As the program has evolved, we have taken on more challenging terrain, including combining procedures - performing coronary bypass, valve and aortic work on the same patient.
Coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) is the most common procedure. The surgery uses a vein from the leg or an artery from the chest or forearm and reattaches it to the coronary artery to route blood around a blockage. In valve surgery, the trend is to try to repair or save the valve. Watch an animation.