Premium
“H” Graft from the Right Internal Mammary Artery to the Left Anterior Descending Coronary Artery: An Alternative Strategy in Reoperative Grafting of the LAD Territory
Author(s) -
Ricci Marco,
Fricken Kurt,
Salerno Tomas A,
Lajos Thomas Z.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of cardiac surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.428
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 1540-8191
pISSN - 0886-0440
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-8191.2001.tb00489.x
Subject(s) - medicine , artery , bypass grafting , thoracotomy , cardiology , right coronary artery , mammary artery , surgery , coronary angiography , myocardial infarction
A bstract Reoperative grafting of the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery or its diagonal branches can be accomplished through a left anterior small thoracotomy (LAST) on the beating heart using the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) as a conduit. Patients in whom the LIMA has been used previously, however, are generally excluded from this approach unless an alternative technique is utilized. We describe a new technique applicable to these patients that consists of grafting the LAD through a LAST approach and connecting the graft to the right internal mammary artery (RIMA).