# What the heck is a Quintuple Bypass? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000 "2000-02-09T00:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/1 "2000-02-09T00:34:00Z")
Someone I know is in the hospital for heart surgery, and she _may_ have to have a Quintuple Bypass…and I have no idea what that is. The heart has four chambers, each with its own vein or artery…so if we bypassed them all, wouldn’t that just be a Quintuple? I thought the fifth one might be the artery that directly feeds the heart (Coronary Artery?) However, the more I thought about it, the more I came to believe that the Coronary Artery would be bypassed anyway, no matter what the case, just to make sure that the heart was getting enough blood. So where’s the fifth bypass? -David ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/2 "2000-02-09T01:00:00Z")
Here’s my uninformed WAG: Perhaps, in bypass surgery they don’t bypass whole arteries, just those sections that are blocked. If this is the case then there really isn’t any limit to the number of bypasses that might be performed. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/3 "2000-02-09T01:06:00Z")
My father has had a total of \7\ bypasses! 2 the first time, 5 the second. (He used to smoke. Not anymore.) And it’s arterial blockages that are “bypassed” , not chambers of the heart. (What did you think people used to pump blood with?) * * * With magic, you can turn a frog into a prince. With science, you can turn a frog into a Ph.D, and you still have the frog you started with. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/4 "2000-02-09T01:07:00Z")
PS–good luck with your loved one, dude. ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/5 "2000-02-09T01:21:00Z")
Ahhhh…I see. I was assuming that a whole chamber was being bypassed, but it’s sections of arteries, instead! Very much appreciated, y’all. And thanks, Bosda. -David ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/6 "2000-02-09T01:23:00Z")
Wait! You mean my wild ass guess was actually right? Woohooo!!! ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecccb3/32.png) [@Lord\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Jim)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/7 "2000-02-09T02:10:00Z")
[Here](http://johns.largnet.uwo.ca/shine/health/bypass.htm) is a link with a simple drawing of how it is done. It is the arteries on the outside of the heart that feed the heart muscles, not the aorta and pulminary arteries and such. There are four chambers with a large vein or artery in or out of each, these are not the ones that are bypassed. It’s the coronary arteries that are bypassed. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/8 "2000-02-09T06:42:00Z")
Hey, neat link, Jim. Anatomy lesson: There are 3 main arteries that supply the heart. From the R side of the aorta, the Right Coronary Artery (RCA) takes off. It supplies the Right Atrium & the Right Ventricle. In most people, it has a branch near it’s end called the Posterior Descending Artery (PDA) that supplies the part of the Left Ventricle that lies on top of the diaphragm (inferior wall). From the L side of the aorta, the Left Main Coronary Artery takes off. Almost immediately, it splits into the other 2 major arteries, the L Anterior Descending (LAD) and the L Circumflex (LCX). The LAD supplies the anterior (front) wall of the L ventricle and gives of branches called Diagonals (D1, D2, etc.) The LCX supplies the L atrium, and the posterior (back) wall of the L Ventrical, and gives off branches called Obtuse Marginal Branches (OMB1, OMB2, etc.) So, in theory, a person could have separate grafts delivering blood to: 1. RCA 2. PDA 3. LAD 4. D1 5. D2 possibly other Ds 6. LCX 7. OMB1 8. OMB2 possibly other OMBs. * * * Sue from El Paso Siamese Attack Puppet - Texas Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/9 "2000-02-09T06:48:00Z")
Oops - I forgot something. Looking back at the picture in Jim’s link, there does not necessarily have to be 5 different grafts to the aorta. 1 vessel can come of the aorta, have a hole made in the side of it which is connected to a hole in the LAD, another hole in the side further down which is connected to hole made in D1, and the end of the graft connected to D2. This would still be considered triple bypass surgery, even if only one vessel was sewn into the aorta. - Sue ---
**Author:** ![SoulFrost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f07891/32.png) [@SoulFrost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoulFrost)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2000, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/10 "2000-02-09T15:00:00Z")
Thanks again, Sue and Jim…that information helped a lot! I think now, I can explain the process a little easier. Yeah Ursa–good call! -David ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2000, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-the-heck-is-a-quintuple-bypass/7000/11 "2000-02-11T03:19:00Z")
As always, Sue comes through with the medical knowledge. When I had my surgery, I went in expecting a triple and came out having had a quadruple (there was a secondary blockage hidden by the 95% blockage in one artery, which they had to bypass too).