MyHeartSurgery.ai

Procedures, explained

What each operation is, and how I approach it

Plain-language guides to the heart procedures I perform and help patients decide on — with the evidence behind my choices and answers to the questions patients ask most.

Talk with Dr. Leidenfrost
Coronary bypass (CABG)Bypass surgery reroutes blood around blocked coronary arteries using healthy blood vessels from elsewhere in your body.Read more →Mitral valve repairWhen a leaking mitral valve can be fixed rather than replaced, you keep your own valve.Read more →Mitral valve replacementSome mitral valves are too damaged — by calcium, rheumatic disease or infection — to repair.Read more →Edge-to-edge mitral repair (TEER)Transcatheter edge-to-edge repair uses a small clip, delivered through a vein in the leg, to hold the two mitral leaflets together and reduce the leak — without opening the chest..Read more →Mitral valve-in-valveWhen a tissue mitral valve from an earlier operation wears out, a new valve can often be placed inside it through a vein — avoiding a second open-heart operation..Read more →Aortic valve replacementIn aortic stenosis the valve stiffens and narrows, and the heart has to work harder to push blood through it.Read more →TAVRTAVR places a new aortic valve through a catheter, usually from an artery in the leg, without opening the chest.Read more →Septal myectomyIn obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), thickened heart muscle blocks blood leaving the heart.Read more →Rigid sternal fixationFor more than 50 years the standard way to close the breastbone after heart surgery has been stainless-steel wire.Read more →

This page is general education, not medical advice. Reviewed by Jeremy Leidenfrost, MD, cardiothoracic surgeon, October 2026.

Consultations and second opinions

Talk with Dr. Leidenfrost

Whether you’ve just been diagnosed or have already been told you need surgery, I’m glad to review your case and talk through your options — including a second opinion on a recommendation you’ve received.

Call (314) 434-3049

Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–4 p.m. Central

  1. 1 · Call our office

    Tell our office you’d like a consultation or a second opinion.

  2. 2 · We gather your records

    Your records, imaging and prior tests — we do the chasing, not you.

  3. 3 · An honest assessment

    Whether surgery is right, whether a less invasive option exists, and what realistic outcomes look like.

  4. 4 · Your decision

    Take it wherever you want — to us, to your current doctor, or home to your family.