Heart rescue in acute left main coronary artery occlusion with CABG using initial retrograde perfusion

Acute occlusion of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) is a rare and almost invariably fatal condition. Here, we report on heart salvage in two such cases with CABG aided by emergent retrograde reperfusion as the initial operative step. Both cases were extremely unusual. The first patient had twice survived LMCA occlusion; the second also had right coronary artery occlusion. We will also review the literature on acute LMCA occlusion and coronary venous retroperfusion.