title: Repair of damaged internal mammary artery.
abstract: The use of the internal mammary artery (IMA) in coronary artery bypass graft surgery is an independent predictor of late survival in all subsets of patients and should not be denied to any subgroup. Therefore damage to the IMA during harvesting is a catastrophic complication after which the graft is usually discarded. We present here a simple and safe technique for repair of a damaged left IMA that allowed its rescue for grafting to the left anterior descending artery.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular Surgery Discipline, Escola Paulista de Medicina and São Paulo Hospital, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil. wjgomes.dcir@epm.br
authors.forename: Walter J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gomes
authors.forename: Paulo C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: João N R
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Branco
authors.forename: Enio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Buffolo
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000379:methods; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D011859:Radiography; D013536:Suture Techniques; D020858:Tissue and Organ Harvesting