coronary bypass surgery

Cultural  

1. A surgical procedure to restore normal blood supply to the heart by creating new routes for the blood to travel into the heart when one or both of the coronary arteries have become clogged or obstructed (possibly due to atherosclerosis). These new routes are created by removing blood vessels from another part of the body (most often the veins of the leg) and grafting them onto the heart to bypass the clogged arteries.

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Often, people will call this kind of surgery a double, triple, or quadruple bypass, referring to the number of diseased coronary arteries that had to be bypassed during the operation.

Example Sentences

In early January, doctors performed coronary bypass surgery.

From Salon

In 2004, Mr. Clinton, who has a family history of heart disease, underwent quadruple coronary bypass surgery at a hospital in New York.

From New York Times

He had a toe amputated because of circulatory troubles related to diabetes and underwent coronary bypass surgery in 1989.

From Fox News

At my age, if I get the virus, I have 3.6% chance of dying from it — about the same as for some forms of heart attack or coronary bypass surgery.

From Los Angeles Times

The world’s first coronary bypass surgery, Jauhar reports, was performed in 1967 using veins from the leg to bypass coronary obstructions.

From Washington Post