If you are unable to work because of Open Heart Surgery you may be able to make a TPD claim for a lump sum from the Total & Permanent Disablement insurance contained within your superannuation fund. There is no necessity for you to have been involved in an accident or to have suffered a work related injury to make a TPD claim. If you suffer from total and permanent disability, you may be able to make a TPD claim in addition to receiving your super early as a result of your condition. Our TPD claim solicitors can advise you in detail as to the requirements of a successful submission, they will prepare all relevant paperwork and will obtain full supporting documentation. Our TPD lawyers will give you advice on the likely success of your claim to a super fund, without further obligation. It costs nothing to use our advice service.

Our TPD claim solicitors use a risk free no win no fee arrangement.

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Open Heart Surgery - TPD

Open heart surgery is, by definition, a surgery in which the chest wall is opened and the heart is exposed. The heart itself is often stopped for the surgery to continue and doctors can make incisions in the heart muscle to get access to parts of the heart necessary for repair of the heart. More than a half million open heart surgeries are done in the US each year for heart problems. Some heart problems include coronary artery disease, holes in the heart and cardiac valvular disease. Almost all of these procedures involve being able to have complete access to the heart at the time of surgery.

Both children and adults are subject to open heart surgery. In children, the problem is usually a congenital heart problem and involves repair of holes or valvular problems. It can be due to transposition of the great vessels and other heart problems you can be born with. The chest can be cut open and the heart exposed in adults as well. Surgeries include those for valvular disease, coronary heart disease or heart transplant due to congestive heart failure or severe heart damage.

In open heart surgery, the heart is put on cardiopulmonary bypass or a heart-lung machine. The heart is stopped and the bypass machine allows for blood to pass around the heart without a beating heart. When the surgery is over with, the heart lung machine is discontinued and the heart is restarted. Some procedures are still done with the heart beating throughout the surgery.

Fortunately, there are newer techniques available that allow the doctor to do the procedure through smaller slits in the chest cavity and heart. The doctor makes a 2-5 inch long surgical incision in the wall of the chest. Muscles in the chest wall are divided so that there is better access to underlying tissue. An endoscopic surgery makes use of one to four small incisions in the chest. Instruments at the ends of the endoscope are used to correct whatever problem there is in the heart. There is such a thing as robot-assisted heart surgery in which two to four very small cuts are made in the chest wall. A computer controls a robot to do the surgery in three dimensions while the doctor watches and directs things on a computer screen. This is technically open heart surgery but is a far cry from regular open heart surgery. For the endoscopic surgeries, the doctor will use medications or a mechanical device to slow the heart down to a slow rate and afterward will return the heart to its normal rate.

The most common open heart surgery is called coronary artery bypass graft surgery or CABG. The doctor takes healthy veins or arteries from another body area, such as the legs, and bypasses areas of blockages within the heart. Fewer CABG surgeries are being done now that doctors have angioplasty with stent placement at their disposal. CABG is done when there is a very long area of blockage in an artery.

Other reasons for heart surgery include valvular repair or replacement, the repair of abnormal or damaged areas of the heart, the implantation of medical devices to control the heart rhythm or to support the function of the heart while a person awaits a transplant, and the transplant procedure itself.

In an open heart surgery, the patient’s breast bone is cut through to see the heart better. The breast bone is then wired shut after the procedure is over. Doctors use a rib spreader to spread open the chest so the heart muscle can be visualized easier. It is only then that the heart lung machine is attached that allows for the heart to be stopped and the surgery to progress.

Heart surgery usually has good results and the death rate is quite low. Patients who are very sick before the surgery have a higher rate of death during the open heart surgery procedure.

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