[Coronary bypass surgery without heart-lung-machine. First experiences and results after two years]

Results and experiences two years after the introduction of off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) are presented. The material includes 95 patients, where 24 patients had a high preoperative risk due to unstable angina, concomitant diseases or relative contraindications to conventional bypass surgery. Per- and postoperative course was characterized by low morbidity with ultra fast track recovery, no detectable levels of coronary enzyme release in the majority of patients, no reoperations for bleeding and early discharge from the hospital. There were two in-hospital deaths, both patients from the high risk group, where one patient died due to a preoperative myocardial infarction, while the other death was not related to cardiac disease. Follow-up results were fully satisfactory, where 86% of the patients were free from anginal symptoms three months after surgery. As a consequence of these positive experiences, OPCAB surgery is offered to an increasing number of patients, currently 25% of our CABG procedures.