closed bypass

  My mother had bypass surgery 5 years ago.  She is now 77 years old.  A recent catheterization showed that two bypasses are completely blocked and the third is  40% blocked.  Her surgeon says that a second bypass is impossible due to the condition of her veins/arteries.  Is alternative treatment available at Cleveland Clinic to help restore blood flow to the heart?
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Dear Marsha:
There are several potential options that are available to your mother.  Here at the Cleveland Clinic we are accustomed to performing repeat cardiac bypass surgery.  Repeat bypass surgery is riskier, but can be done successfully.  If there are no conduits (veins or arteries) to use to bypass any blockages in the coronary circulation, another option would be to do try experimental therapies.   One example is laser therapy to create new channels in the heart to increase blood flow.  Another is gene therapy to create new blood vessels (angiogenesis).
Not everyone is a candidate for the above therapies.  As far as the experimental therapies I mentioned, they are just that - experimental.  Only time will tell if they are truly useful.  There is of course no harm in finding out if these therapies could help you.  The number of patients with severe coronary artery disease not treatable by conventional means continues to grow, and we are doing our best to find new therapies to help.
If you wish for your mother to be evaluated here at the Cleveland Clinic, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE for an appointment with a cardiologist at desk F25.  Information provided in the Heart Forum is for general purposes only.  Specific diagnoses and therapies can only be provided by your doctor.