title: Coronary artery bypass grafting to a calcified right coronary artery.
abstract: A severely calcified coronary artery demands a special technique in coronary artery bypass surgery. We have successfully developed a "punch-out" technique for a calcified right coronary artery in a dialysis patient. After an incision into the target coronary artery, the calcified arterial wall was resected using a punch to make an oval hole for anastomosis. Limited endarterectomy, which consisted of dissection and removal of the calcified endothelium and media around this hole, preserving the adventitia, enabled the anastomosis. This technique can be used for a severely calcified coronary artery that is unamendable to conventional coronary artery bypass grafting.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Shin-Koga Hospital, 120 Tenjin-cho, Kurume, Fukuoka 830-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshikai
authors.forename: Keiji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamohara
authors.forename: Junji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yunoki
mesh_terms: D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass / Q000379:methods; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods