Application of intraoperative thermography in coronary artery bypass grafting without extracorporeal circulation - clinical report.
BACKGROUND
The development of low-invasive cardiosurgical techniques has contributed to an increase of the number of revascularization procedures performed on beating heart. The report presents the changes observed intraoperatively in thermographic images of the heart obtained during surgical revascularization performed without extracorporeal circulation.


METHODS
In two patients with coronary heart disease, subjected to coronary artery bypass grafting performed without extracorporeal circulation, the images acquired over the operation area were recorded intraoperatively using a thermovision camera (Agema Thermovision SW/TE 900 system).


RESULTS
On the basis of thermographic images, the area of lowered temperature corresponding to the region of myocardium with impaired blood flow supplied by the descending anterior coronary artery branch was determined. A rapid temperature increase to the baseline values was observed soon after removing the ligatures from the descending anterior coronary artery and left internal mammary artery used as a bypass.


CONCLUSIONS
Recording thermographic heart images allows to observe restricted areas of perfusion disturbances, which take place during procedures performed on beating heart.
Siebert
J
J
Clinic of Cardiosurgery, Institute of Cardiology, Medical University of Gdańsk, Poland.
Keita
L
L
Kaczmarek
M
M
Anisimowicz
L
L
Rogowski
J
J
Narkiewicz
M
M
D000368:Aged; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods*; D005112:Extracorporeal Circulation; D006801:Humans; D007430:Intraoperative Care; D013817:Thermography / Q000379:methods*