ABTS Thoracic Surgery key terms

A technique in which a pump and oxygenator temporarily take over the heart's and lungs' functions, allowing open cardiac surgery on a still, bloodless field while maintaining systemic perfusion.

Delivery of a cold or warm solution to the heart to stop electrical and mechanical activity, reduce oxygen demand, and protect the myocardium during aortic cross-clamping.

A surgical clamp placed across the ascending aorta to isolate the coronary circulation from the bypass circuit, creating a bloodless field for distal anastomoses and cardioplegia delivery.

Strategies used during cardiac surgery to limit ischemic injury, including hypothermia, cardioplegic arrest, intermittent aortic clamping, and avoiding ventricular distension.

The left internal mammary artery harvested from the chest wall and anastomosed to the left anterior descending coronary artery, favored for its long-term patency in coronary bypass surgery.

Surgical revascularization that uses arterial or venous conduits to route blood around obstructed coronary arteries, relieving angina and improving survival in selected patients.

Coronary bypass performed on a beating heart without cardiopulmonary bypass, using stabilizers and positioning to create a relatively motionless operative field.

A minimally invasive procedure in which a bioprosthetic valve is delivered by catheter into the aortic annulus, commonly for severe aortic stenosis in higher-risk or older patients.

Cooling the body to profoundly low temperature and stopping circulation to provide a bloodless field for surgery on the aortic arch or other complex vascular structures.

A tear in the ascending aorta that creates a false lumen, requiring emergency surgery because of risks of rupture, tamponade, coronary malperfusion, and stroke.

A temporary life-support circuit that oxygenates and removes carbon dioxide from blood outside the body, used for severe cardiac or respiratory failure unresponsive to conventional therapy.

An implanted mechanical pump that draws blood from the failing left ventricle and propels it into the aorta, used as a bridge to transplant or destination therapy.

Surgical removal of an entire lung lobe, most often for localized lung cancer, using open or thoracoscopic techniques with individual control of hilar structures.

Removal of a lung segment with its bronchovascular supply, used for small peripheral tumors or compromised patients when lobectomy would sacrifice too much function.

Removal of an entire lung, typically for centrally located tumors or extensive disease that cannot be treated by a smaller resection; it carries substantial postoperative risk.

A minimally invasive approach using a camera and instruments through small incisions to perform thoracic procedures such as lobectomy, biopsy, and pleurodesis.

An open incision into the chest, often through an intercostal space, providing direct access for lung resection, esophageal surgery, or major thoracic trauma repair.

A procedure in which a scope is passed through a neck incision to inspect and biopsy mediastinal lymph nodes, used for staging lung cancer and diagnosing mediastinal masses.

A bronchoscopic technique using ultrasound to visualize and sample mediastinal and hilar lymph nodes through the airway, important for lung cancer staging.

Passage of a flexible or rigid scope into the tracheobronchial tree to inspect airways, obtain biopsies, remove secretions, or treat obstruction and bleeding.

Placement of a tube into the pleural space to drain air, fluid, or blood and restore negative pressure, commonly after thoracic surgery, trauma, or pneumothorax.

Escape of air from the lung parenchyma or airway into the pleural space, detected as bubbling in a chest drain and often managed with observation or pleurodesis.

Creation of adhesions between the visceral and parietal pleura by chemical or mechanical means to prevent recurrent pneumothorax or malignant pleural effusion.

Removal of part or all of the esophagus, usually for cancer, with reconstruction using a gastric pull-up or other conduit and substantial risk of anastomotic leak.

Metastatic involvement of ipsilateral mediastinal lymph nodes by lung cancer, a key staging finding that influences prognosis and treatment selection.

An abnormal opening in the ventricular septum that permits left-to-right shunting, potentially causing heart failure, pulmonary overcirculation, and pulmonary hypertension if large.

An opening in the atrial septum that allows left-to-right shunting, often producing right heart enlargement and late arrhythmias or pulmonary hypertension.

Persistence after birth of the fetal vessel connecting the pulmonary artery and descending aorta, causing left-to-right shunting and potentially heart failure or pulmonary vascular disease.

A narrowing of the aortic isthmus that obstructs systemic blood flow, causing upper extremity hypertension, diminished lower pulses, and risk of heart failure in infants.

A congenital combination of ventricular septal defect, pulmonary stenosis, right ventricular hypertrophy, and overriding aorta, causing cyanosis and requiring surgical repair.

A congenital anomaly in which the aorta arises from the right ventricle and the pulmonary artery from the left, creating parallel circulations that require early intervention.

The preferred repair for transposition of the great arteries, dividing and reattaching the great vessels so the left ventricle supplies the aorta and the right ventricle supplies the pulmonary artery.

A staged palliative operation that directs systemic venous blood to the pulmonary arteries without a subpulmonary ventricle, used for single-ventricle physiology.

A staged cavopulmonary connection that anastomoses the superior vena cava to the pulmonary artery, reducing volume load on a single ventricle before Fontan completion.

A neonatal staged operation for hypoplastic left heart syndrome that reconstructs the aorta, creates a systemic-to-pulmonary shunt or Sano conduit, and allows survival to later Glenn and Fontan stages.

A spectrum of congenital defects with underdevelopment of left-sided cardiac structures, dependent on ductal patency and managed through staged palliation or transplantation.

A congenital defect with an atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect, and a common atrioventricular valve, often associated with Down syndrome and requiring surgical repair.

A systemic-to-pulmonary artery shunt that improves pulmonary blood flow in cyanotic congenital heart disease, often used as a temporizing procedure in tetralogy of Fallot.