title: Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass grafting for the left anterior descending coronary artery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A single surgeon conducted One hundred and twelve patients underwent minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting for the left anterior descending coronary artery 112 patients at Yamato Seiwa Hospital from September 1996 until August 1999.
  
  
  METHODS
  All procedures were performed via left anterior short thoracotomy using a stabilizer during graft anastomosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No operative deaths occurred but 3 patients died while hospitalized due to noncardiac events. Graft occlusion was seen in 3 patients early postoperatively. Other angiography graft failure such as stenosis was seen in 11 patients. Occlusive lesions of other coronary arteries occurred in 77 patients (69%) and 53 patients underwent percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty the pre/postoperatively for those lesions.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting is seen by cardiologists as a reasonable form of revascularization in conditioned patients having left anterior descending artery lesion, and that minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass grafting has a spectrum of candidates different from that of conventional surgical revascularization for the coronary artery.
authors.affiliation: Heart Disease Center, Yamato Seiwa Hospital, 9-8-2 Minami-Rinkan, Yamato 242-0006, Japan.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nabuchi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurata
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsukuda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tajima
authors.forename: K I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D002648:Child; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery / Q000628:therapy; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures; D014654:Vascular Patency