PACEMAKER INSERTION These devices regulate the heartbeat. Surgeons make a small incision where they insert the pacemaker via a catheter (a thin, flexible tube). They also insert the battery pack that powers the pacemaker. AORTIC ANEURYSM REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT Surgeons can treat a weak or bulging area on the main artery leading away from the heart. Left unmanaged, these weak spots can result in a burst artery, causing life-threatening complications. VALVE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT The heart's valves ensure that blood flows through your heart in the right direction. Sometimes people are born with valve problems that get worse over time. In other cases, an infection can cause the heart valve to malfunction. Doctors can surgically repair or replace heart valves. CORONARY BYPASS Blockages in the arteries coming out of the heart can cause severe chest pain and heart attacks. With a coronary bypass, surgeons take a blood vessel from elsewhere in the body, often the leg, and attach it above and below the blockage, allowing blood to bypass the blockage. Other blood vessels in your leg take over the blood flow for the one that was removed. WIN TE R 2019 45