[MIDCAB procedure by original stabilizer and usual devices].
The key of MIDCAB is how to stabilize the left anterior descending artery. We introduce our MIDCAB procedure by using our original stabilizer and usual devices in this paper.


METHODS
Between March 1997 and August 1997, 13 patients underwent left internal thoracic artery to left anterior descending artery revascularization without extracorporeal circulation, and one case underwent right internal thoracic artery to right coronary artery. In all cases, we exposed the internal thoracic artery through a 8 cm anterior fifth space thoracotomy. One case of MIDCAB to right coronary artery was added an inferior hemisternotomy for anastomosis to the right coronary artery. The internal thoracic artery was harvested by using the Kent retractor. The anastomosis were done by using our original stabilizer and retract O tapes.


RESULTS
In our method, there was no mortality and no postoperative cardiac event. There were 5 postoperative complications, one was reoperation due to bleeding from a branch of the internal thoracic artery, two cases were wound infection. Cerebral infarction, bleeding due to urinary bladder tumor and lumbar compression fracture was seen in one case each.


CONCLUSIONS
MIDCAB procedure was performed safety and effectively by using our original stabilizer and usual devices.
Watanabe
Y
Y
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Toho University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Koyama
N
N
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006348:Cardiac Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods*; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D013525:Surgical Instruments