COMBINED TMR AND MITRAL-VALVE REPLACEMENT VIA LEFT THORACOTOMY

Transmyocardial laser revascularization is an emerging technique for t reatment of patients with coronary artery disease not amenable to stan dard revascularization by either percutaneous transluminal coronary an gioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting. Transmyocardial laser re vascularization is typically performed as an isolated procedure on the beating heart, although it has been performed as an adjunct to conven tional coronary artery bypass grafting in nongraftable territories. We report the use of transmyocardial laser revascularization in combinat ion with mitral valve replacement via a left lateral thoracotomy for t reatment of ischemic mitral regurgitation. (C) 1998 by The Society of Thoracic Surgeons.