Total Endoscopic Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting

(#2000-85749 ... February 21, 2000)

Volkmar Falk,¹ Anno Diegeler,² Thomas Walther,² Stefan Jacobs,² Jörg Raumans,³ Friedrich W. Mohr²

¹Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, Stanford, CA
²Department of Cardiac Surgery, Heartcenter, University of Leipzig, Germany
³Department of Anesthesiology, Heartcenter, University of Leipzig, Germany

ABSTRACT

Two cases of totally endoscopic off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (TECAB) of the left internal thoracic artery to the left anterior descending artery using the da Vinci™ telemanipulation system (Intuitive Surgical, Mountain View, CA) are described. A new articulating endoscopic stabilizer with cleats was developed to enable endoscopic anchoring of silastic vessel loops for vascular occlusion. Newly created attachments for irrigation and suction, along with active robotic enhanced assistance by a second surgical console, permitted our group to perform for the first time a truly endoscopic bypass grafting without any thoracotomy.

AUTHOR/ARTICLE INFORMATION

Reprint requests to: Volkmar Falk, MD, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University Medical Center, 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, CA 94305, Phone: (650) 237-7644, Fax: (650) 725-3846, Email: vfalk@stanford.edu

Submitted February 17, 2000; accepted February 21, 2000.