[Clinical experience of coronary artery bypass grafting using surgical microscope]

Since 1991, we have attempted to use a surgical microscope for 62 coronary bypass anastomoses. Four kinds of microscopes were used under high magnification (6 to 8x). The suturing thread length was 5-10 cm to make anastomosis and handling of the needle easier. It was concluded that a surgical microscope could be best used for anastomosis of an internal thoracic artery graft with the left anterior descending coronary artery. Excellent graft patency and improvement of the quality of anastomosis were confirmed.