Retrograde cardioplegia through the right atrium.
Retrograde cardioplegia through the coronary sinus has been shown to overcome the problems of cardioplegia delivery in aortic valve incompetence and coronary stenosis. Since specific complications, such as coronary sinus injury and lack of perfusion of the thebesian veins, may result from its use, we present a technique of cardioplegia delivery through the right atrium after caval and pulmonary artery exclusion that we believe is safer and more reliable than delivery through the coronary sinus.
D002315:Cardiopulmonary Bypass; D006324:Heart Arrest, Induced / Q000379:methods*; D006325:Heart Atria; D006801:Humans