Intraoperative high-frequency epicardial echocardiography in coronary revascularization: locating deeply embedded coronary arteries.
During coronary revascularization, the precise location of major coronary arteries may be obscured by overlying fat, myocardial bridging, or epicardial scarring. High-frequency epicardial echocardiography can be used intraoperatively to quickly image and locate such arteries and eliminate the need for time-consuming epicardial exploration or potentially deleterious retrograde probing of distal coronary artery branches. This technique can be applied using commercially available equipment and the aid of a skilled technician.
D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000295:instrumentation*; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period