Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting Using an Abdominal Artery as an Inflow

Background In multiple bypass surgery, when the ascending aorta cannot be used as an inflow, it is sometimes necessary to use an abdominal artery. This technique is useful when a re-median sternotomy might damage a patent graft in patients undergoing reoperations or when the gastroepiploic artery is unsuitable for use as a graft. Methods The subjects were 17 patients in whom an abdominal artery was used as an inflow. In these 17 patients, 9 underwent surgery for the first operation, while 8 underwent surgery for the reoperation. As an inflow, the gastroduodenal artery was used in 8 patients, the common hepatic artery in 4 patients, the left gastric artery in 3 patients, the right gastric artery in 1 patient, and the middle colic artery in 1 patient. The target coronary artery was the right posterior descending artery in 13 patients, the atrioventricular artery in 2 patients, and the circumflex artery in 4 patients. Sequential bypass was performed on 2 patients. Results None of the patients died during surgery. Symptoms disappeared postoperatively in all patients; postoperative angiography showed that all grafts were patent. Conclusions The present technique is useful when the ascending aorta cannot be used as an inflow or when a bypass to a region with a large perfusion area is needed in multiple bypass surgery.