A coronary artery bypass surgery treats the severe narrowing of the arteries that supply our heart with blood and oxygen by bypassing a blockage. It relieves the chest pain caused by
angina and to minimise the risk of a
myocardial infarction (a heart attack). Just like any other muscle in the body, the heart requires a blood supply for respiration to produce ATP, and for the muscles to contract. This is supplied by the right and left coronary arteries. The inner walls of the arteries can be damaged due to factors such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and smoking, which leads to a build up of fatty deposits on the inner wall, reducing blood flow and the narrowing of the lumen. This is known as
atherosclerosis. Once a coronary artery has been blocked, some areas of the heart become deprived of oxygen, causing the tissues to die, causing a heart attack.
Usually, a heart bypass surgery involves taking a 'healthy' blood vessel from the arms or the legs and grafting it around the affected areas of the coronary arteries. However, in February 2011, a group of research scientists from East Carolina University, Duke University, Yale University and Humacyte Inc. developed a method for using human muscle tissues to create human blood vessels in the laboratory that showed excellent blood flow and resistance to blockage and other complications when tested on animals.
