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open-heart surgery

American

[oh-puhn-hahrt] / ˈoʊ pənˈhɑrt /

noun

surgery performed on the exposed heart while a heart-lung machine pumps and oxygenates the blood and diverts it from the heart.

open-heart surgery British

noun

surgical repair of the heart during which the blood circulation is often maintained mechanically

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

open-heart surgery Scientific

Surgery in which the thoracic cavity is opened to expose the heart and the blood is recirculated and oxygenated by a heart-lung machine.

Etymology

Origin of open-heart surgery

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Both address bad valves without open-heart surgery, typically by going in through the femoral artery in the groin.

From Barron's • Jun. 5, 2026

I’m also going to have to have open-heart surgery for a valve replacement.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 23, 2025

That diagnosis came just six years after Williams underwent open-heart surgery in 2009 to treat ischemic heart disease, which has also been linked to Agent Orange.

From Salon • Aug. 27, 2025

She was initially diagnosed with arthritis, but after a series of tests, doctors detected something much more serious: a rare congenital heart disease that required open-heart surgery.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 17, 2025

Imagine trying to perform open-heart surgery with a sledgehammer.

From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023