Total Arterial Off-pump Coronary Revascularization with a Bilateral Internal Mammary Artery Y Graft (208 cases)

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the early outcome of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) with a bilateral internal mammary artery (BIMA) Y configuration graft to achieve total arterial myocardial revascularization. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From October 2002 to December 2008, 208 patients (196 male and 12 female patients) underwent OPCABG by only using a BIMA Y configuration graft. The average age of the patients was 56.5±11.3 years, with the age range being 33–78 years. A total of 167 (80.2%) cases had triple-vessel disease. Left main stem disease was found in 33 (15.9%) cases, and double-vessel disease was found in 8 (3.9%) cases. The semiskeletonization skill was used to harvest the two IMAs, and then the free right internal mammary artery was anastomosed end-to-side to the in situ left internal mammary artery to composite a Y configuration graft. Off-pump and sequential anastomosis methods were used to perform coronary artery bypass surgery for the patients. Graft patency was assessed by using the HT311 transit time flowmeter (USA Transonic Systems Inc.), intraoperatively. RESULTS: We performed distal anastomoses of the grafts in 728 patients, the average being 3.5±1.3 per person. No one died and got recurrent angina within 30 days after operation. CONCLUSION: OPCABG by using the BIMA Y graft was safe and effective to achieve total arterial revascularization, and avoid surgical operation on the ascending aorta, and other incisions.