title: Modified mid-sternotomy approach for exposure of left internal mammary artery and the circumflex artery territory.
abstract: Despite coronary artery bypass grafting being a common operation today, obtaining an optimal exposure of the left internal mammary artery for its easy harvest can be difficult at times. Similarly, it may not always be easy to obtain adequate access to the left posterolateral surface of the heart (for the circumflex-marginal artery system). We describe a simple modification of the standard mid-sternotomy incision that helps to overcome both of these problems without using any cumbersome assembly of retractors and with minimal side effects.
authors.affiliation: Milwaukee Heart Surgery Associates, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: A K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Ganjoo
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D013249:Sternum / Q000601:surgery*; D013895:Thoracic Arteries / Q000637:transplantation*; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods*