Doctor Live-Tweeting Coronary Bypass Surgery - East Idaho News

Doctor Live-Tweeting Coronary Bypass Surgery

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Getty 121411 Surgery?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1329845184456Keith Brofsky/Thinkstock(HOUSTON) — Doctors tweeting throughout surgery and providing pictures and video is not new, but tweeting during open-heart surgery? That’s happening for the first time Tuesday.

Surgeons at Memorial Hermann Northwest Hospital in Houston are live tweeting a coronary bypass, complete with almost instantaneous YouTube videos and pictures of a beating heart.

Some of the pictures and video are already rolling into the hospital’s Twitter feed, @houstonhospital, but before clicking over, remember that the content is graphic, and includes images of the heart itself.

Dr. Michael Macis is conducting the two-hour bypass, wearing a helmet cam that snaps the photos and video, and sends them to a computer. Another camera in the operating room is also capturing images.

The patient’s name has not been released, but according to the Houston Chronicle, he is a 57-year-old male.

The surgery coincides with Heart Month. Memorial Hermann has arranged for a doctor on its staff to answer questions from the public through CoverItLive, which is embedded here.

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