Direct myocardial revascularization without extracorporeal circulation: technique and initial results

In a 10-month period, 68 patients underwent saphenous vein bypass revascularization without extracorporeal circulation. Distal sutures were performed with interruption of coronary flow without any devices for perfusion of the coronary artery; the proximal sutures were completed with tangential clamping of the aorta. Most frequently, the anterior descending and the distal right coronary arteries were revascularized; of 225 patients who underwent bypass surgery, this technique was possible in 68 cases (30.2%). The 30-day hospital mortality was 1.5%, and perioperative myocardial infarction, as determined by daily electrocardiograms (ECGs) and creatine phosphokinase isoenzyme (CKMB), occurred in two patients. Control hemodynamic studies were performed in 22 of the 68 patients (32.4%) with a patency rate of 84.2% in the grafts restudied.