Psychological Risks of Coronary Bypass Surgery

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xix

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2. Introduction and Overview

   1. Introduction and Overview

      • June B. Pimm

      Pages 1-6

3. Coronary Bypass Surgery

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 7-7

      PDF

   2. Coronary Heart Disease

      • Parry B. Larsen

      Pages 9-20

   3. Coronary Bypass Surgery

      • Kathie Roy

      Pages 21-31

   4. The Millon Behavioral Health Inventory

      • Catherine J. Green, Theodore Millon

      Pages 33-51

4. Techniques for Working with the Coronary Bypass Patient

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 53-53

      PDF

   2. Crisis Intervention and Coronary Bypass Surgery

      • Sally Kolitz, June B. Pimm

      Pages 55-74

5. Research on Crisis Intervention and Coronary Bypass Surgery

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 75-75

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   2. Crisis Intervention and Coronary Bypass Patients

      • Joseph R. Feist

      Pages 77-90

   3. Crisis Intervention and Coronary Bypass Patients

      • Franklin H. Foote

      Pages 91-164

   4. Depression, Crisis Intervention, and Coronary Bypass Surgery

      • June B. Pimm

      Pages 165-193

   5. The Psychology of Coronary Bypass Patients

      • June B. Pimm

      Pages 195-224

   6. Conclusions and Recommendations

      • June B. Pimm

      Pages 225-226

6. Back Matter

   Pages 227-230

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Heart surgery is still a relatively recent advance in medical technology. The first open-heart procedure was closure of an atrial septal defect in a child at the University of Minnesota Hospital in 1953. This issued in a life-saving advance, the use of which has expanded enormously to in­ clude treatment of many areas of cardiac disease. Not unexpectedly, surgical techniques allowed through the use of the heart-lung machine (open-heart surgery) came to be applied in 1967 to the major killer of Americans, namely, coronary artery disease. This operation, known as coronary artery bypass, has become one of the most common surgical operations. Coronary artery disease, with the possibility of total incapacitation or sudden death from a heart attack, can alter severely the personality of the patient. Corrective surgery can sometimes intensify rather than ame­ liorate a patient's fears. To the surgeon, occupied by increasing numbers of patients, there is not time enough to give the preoperative attention that might be helpful. Also, the surgeon and cardiologist are limited in their ability to recognize those patients near the breaking point. The research outlined in these chapters by Drs. Pimm, Feist, and their associates is welcomed by cardiologists and cardiac surgeons. It provides insight into what appears to be reliable recognition of those patients likely to have an adversely affected mental status by coronary bypass surgery and "crisis intervention" to avert this effect and allow the complete benefit of returning the patient to a normal life.

• behavior
• bypass
• coronary artery disease
• surgery

• Pimm Consultants, Miami, USA

  June B. Pimm, Joseph R. Feist

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