bypass

(bī″păs″ )

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A means of circumvention; a shunt. It is used surgically to install an alternative route for the blood to flow past an obstruction if a main or vital artery, e.g., the abdominal aorta or a coronary artery, becomes obstructed. The various procedures are named according to the arteries involved, e.g., coronary artery, aortoiliac, or femoropopliteal bypasses. The circulation of the heart may be bypassed by providing an extracorporeal device to pump blood while a surgical procedure is being done on the coronary arteries or cardiac valves.

MYOCARDIAL REVASCULARIZATION: CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFT SURGERY.

CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS Anterior view of heart with sites of saphenous vein bypass grafts

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