title: Role of coronary graft flow measurement during reoperations for early graft failure after off-pump coronary revascularization.
abstract: Doppler-based techniques of coronary graft flow measurement are frequently used, especially during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) without cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), to exclude graft dysfunction resulting from technical errors. Nevertheless, early graft failure in the immediate postoperative period continues to affect a small percentage of patients who may require emergent reoperation as a result of severe hemodynamic deterioration. In this setting, in which coronary angiography is infrequently an option, expeditious intraoperative assessment of previously constructed coronary grafts may be performed by using the Doppler-based technique Transit Time Flow Measurement (TTFM). As a result, the hemodynamic values obtained during reoperations may guide the operative strategy. In this study we report on eight patients who underwent "off-pump" CABG and necessitated early reintervention as a result of presumed graft dysfunction. In these patients, graft dysfunction was confirmed or excluded by using intraoperatively the TTFM technique, comparing newly obtained flow hemodynamic variables with those recorded as a baseline during primary operations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery and the Center for Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, The Buffalo General Hospital and State University of New York at Buffalo, 14203, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ricci
authors.forename: H L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Karamanoukian
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dancona
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bergsland
mesh_terms: D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D017078:Laser-Doppler Flowmetry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery; D011475:Prosthesis Failure; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013599:Systole / Q000502:physiology; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology