title: Aortic valve replacement after midline-crossed internal thoracic artery grafting.
abstract: In the presence of a midline-crossed internal thoracic artery graft, a median sternotomy may jeopardize the graft and compromise hemodynamics. We report successful aortic valve replacement using a "staircase" thoracotomy and hypothermic axillary perfusion with balloon aortic occlusion in 2 men who had patent right internal thoracic artery grafts that was previously anastomosed to the left anterior descending coronary artery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Yokkaichi City Hospital, 2-22-37 Shibata, Yokkaichi 510-8567, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okamoto
authors.forename: Akinori
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tamenishi
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niimi
mesh_terms: D001021:Aortic Valve / Q000601:surgery*; D001022:Aortic Valve Insufficiency / Q000601:surgery; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000601:surgery; D006350:Heart Valve Prosthesis; D006801:Humans; D007423:Intra-Aortic Balloon Pumping; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods*; D013908:Thoracotomy / Q000379:methods