Does wrapping of the right internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending artery always protect?
We report about a 72-year-old woman with coronary artery disease. Surgical revascularization was performed using three grafts. One of them was the right internal thoracic artery (RITA) to left anterior descending. This graft was covered by a PRECLUDE IMA Sleeve. Wound healing was impaired and became to a chronic sternal osteomyelitis and mediastinitis. Thirty-three months after the primary operation, the PRECLUDE IMA Sleeve was explanted, the sternum was partially resected and the resulting cavity reconstructed with an omentum flap. During that operation, the RITA bypass was damaged. Interposition of a venous segment was necessary to reconstitute the graft.
Department of Cardiac Surgery, Grosshadern Medical Center, Marchioninistr. 15, Munich 81377, Germany. cvicol@helios.med.uni-muenchen.de
Calin
C
Vicol
Sandra
S
Eifert
Bernd J
BJ
Wintersperger
Bruno
B
Reichart