title: Atresia of the left internal mammary artery graft following percutaneous intervention of the left main.
abstract: Because of its durability and patency, the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) is preferentially used to bypass obstructive lesions in the left main coronary artery (LMCA) and/or the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). The long-term patency of the LIMA graft is determined by several factors, principal among them being the dynamic competition between flow through the internal mammary artery graft and the LAD. We report a patient with LMCA stenosis and a well-functioning and mature LIMA graft, who after percutaneous intervention of the LMCA and normalized antegrade flow in the LAD, developed atresia of a large caliber LIMA graft.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4300 W 7th Street, Little Rock, AR 72205 USA.
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kalaga
authors.forename: Barry F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Uretsky
authors.forename: Rajesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sachdeva
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000009:adverse effects*; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006083:Graft Occlusion, Vascular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery / Q000637:transplantation*; D012086:Reoperation / Q000379:methods; D015607:Stents