Left internal mammary artery graft perforation repair using polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stents

The increase in the use of the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) as graft of choice to the left anterior descending coronary artery for conventional and minimally invasive coronary artery bypass surgery has led to an increa sed incidence of LIMA pathologic lesions early after surgery. The lesion, c ommonly located in the body of the LIMA graft, is usually caused by mechani cal injury during harvesting of the vessel. In this context, percutaneous i ntervention with stent implantation can be complicated by vessel rupture, w hich usually requires emergency surgical repair. We describe two cases of s tent implantation in newly placed LIMA grafts complicated by vessel rupture , which were successfully repaired using polytetrafluoroethylene-covered st ents. Cathet. Cardiovasc. Intervent. 51: 78-82, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.