Coronary Artery Exposure in Off-Pump CABG: A Word of Caution

(#2000-0771 ... December 28, 2000)

Giuseppe D'Ancona, MD, Hratch Karamanoukian, MD, Akira Kawaguchi, MD, Jacob Bergsland, MD

Center for Less Invasive and Robotic Cardiac Surgery, Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, New York

ABSTRACT

Coronary exposure and stabilization have focal importance in off-pump coronary surgery. Off-pump complete myocardial revascularization can be performed safely in the majority of the patients whenever strict surgical protocols are followed. Although new devices may be used to facilitate the performance of this demanding operation, technical pitfalls should be recognized to ensure the success of the procedure. We herein report our timely experience with the Xpose™ device (Guidant Corp., Cupertino, CA).

AUTHOR/ARTICLE INFORMATION

Address corespondence and reprint requests to: Hratch Karamanoukian, MD, 100 High Street, Buffalo General Hospital, Buffalo, NY, 14203, Phone: (716) 859-2248, Fax: (716) 859-4697, EMail: lisbon5@yahoo.com