Use Side Branch of the Aortic Graft to Facilitate Coronary Reconstruction During Complex Aortic Surgery

The interposition graft could be used for difficult coronary reconstruction during aortic root replacement. We introduced a new technique that utilizes side branch of an aortic graft to facilitate coronary reconstruction. The present study describes this technique and its outcomes. We retrospectively reviewed 234 patient charts of those who underwent aortic root replacement between January 2013 and November 2017. Within this group, 6 patients required coronary reconstruction with branches of aortic graft and were included in this study. All patients were reoperative cases, 3 of which were for acute type A aortic dissection. The mean cardiopulmonary and aortic cross clamp times were 317.2 ± 35.1 minutes and 153.3 ± 75.4 minutes, respectively. All patients survived to discharge with a median hospital stay of 20.5 days (interquartile range: 13.75-27.75). During a median follow-up of 221 days (interquartile range: 197.78-1208), no patients experienced major adverse cardiovascular events. Four patients underwent radiographic follow-up, which confirmed patent interposition grafts (5/5). The use of branches from the aortic graft for coronary reconstruction is feasible with satisfactory outcomes.