OUR EXPERIENCE WITH MINIMALLY INVASIVE CORONARY-ARTERY BYPASS-GRAFTING AND THORACOSCOPIC INTERNAL MAMMARY ARTERY HARVEST WITH THE HARMONIC SCALPEL

Background. Minimally invasive coronary artery bypass graft (MICABG) t echniques are evolving. Thoracoscopic internal mammary artery (IMA) ha rvest is a demanding procedure. Our experiences with MICABG and a new IMA harvest technique (Wolf technique) are described here. Materials a nd methods. Since October 1995, MICABG was applicable in 51 patients w ith a mean age of 70.2 +/- 12.5 years, using 40 IMAs (29 left and 11 r ight), 7 gastro-epiploic arteries, ii saphenous vein grafts and 1 radi al artery graft. Thirteen (25%) of the 51 patients were undergoing rep eat surgery. A total of 27 IMAs (22 left and 5 right) were harvested w ith the Harmonic scalpel (Ethicon Endo-Surgery) using a thoracoscopic technique (Wolf technique).