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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

Medical records reviewed by The Times show he has a cardiac condition that required open-heart surgery, a procedure Gaza’s shattered healthcare system could no longer provide.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 19, 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

It was more likely that she was assisting a doctor performing open-heart surgery than that some creep had snatched her.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

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