1. heart surgery in which the rib cage is spread open, the heart is stopped and blood is detoured through a heart-lung machine while a heart valve or coronary artery is surgically repaired;
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
open-heart surgery
n 1: heart surgery in which the rib cage is spread open, the
heart is stopped and blood is detoured through a heart-lung
machine while a heart valve or coronary artery is
surgically repaired