What type of operation involves opening the chest and heart while diverting the bloodstream through a heart-lung machine?

Open heart surgery is a type of operation that involves directly accessing the heart by opening the chest. This surgical procedure encompasses a range of techniques aimed at addressing various heart conditions, such as repairing or replacing heart valves, correcting congenital heart defects, or performing coronary artery bypass grafting.

During open heart surgery, the heart is often temporarily stopped, and a heart-lung machine takes over the role of pumping blood and oxygen throughout the body. This ensures that vital organs continue to receive the necessary blood flow and oxygen while the surgical team works on the heart.

In contrast, cardiac catheterization is a minimally invasive procedure used primarily for diagnostic purposes or to perform certain interventions without the need for major surgery. Angioplasty also falls under minimally invasive techniques where a balloon is inserted to open blocked arteries, but it does not involve direct surgery on the heart. Coronary bypass surgery specifically refers to a type of open heart surgery aimed at rerouting blood around clogged arteries, but it is a subset of the broader category of open heart surgery. Therefore, open heart surgery is the most accurate and encompassing term for the operation described in the question.