title: Mid-term patency of the inverted left internal thoracic artery conduit.
abstract: In order to expand the revascularization of the left anterior descending coronary artery, we have applied the inverted left internal thoracic artery (left internal thoracic artery [LITA] transected near its origin, thus supplied by retrograde flow from superior epigastric and musculophrenic arteries) in carefully selected cases (four patients). The 64-slice multidetector row computed tomographic scans performed postoperatively (range, 6 to 40 days), as well as the scans performed in the follow-up period (range, 18 to 35 months) showed preserved inverted LITA conduits with thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) 3 flow in all patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, "Dedinje" Cardiovascular Institute, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Dusko G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Nezic
authors.forename: Zeljko R
authors.initials: ZR
authors.lastname: Bojovic
authors.forename: Miroslav D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Milicic
authors.forename: Zelimir D
authors.initials: ZD
authors.lastname: Antonic
authors.forename: Mladen I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Boricic
authors.forename: Slobodan V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Micovic
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000601:surgery*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008323:Mammary Arteries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology* / Q000637:transplantation*; D008875:Middle Aged; D061330:Multidetector Computed Tomography; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000601:surgery; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods*; D018579:Patient Selection; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014654:Vascular Patency