MR angiography and flow quantification of the internal mammary artery graft after minimally invasive direct coronary artery bypass

OBJECTIVE. Six patients who had undergone minimally invasive direct coronar y artery bypass surgery were examined to evaluate an MR imaging protocol th at provided information about cardiac function, bypass graft patency, and f low characteristics with a single examination. CONCLUSION. Preliminary results suggest that our imaging protocol allows ac curate follow-up of patients after minimally invasive direct coronary arter y bypass surgery Bypass graft patency was correctly determined in all patie nts. In four patients, anastomoses were visualized by MR angiography, and f low measurements revealed a volume range of 28-84 ml/ min (native and graft ed internal mammary arteries) and a trend for the flow values of bypass gra fts to be lower than those of native vessels. Interobserver reproducibility was good (r =.99; slope,.98).