INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Although it has been demonstrated that the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography in the non-invasive assessment of major epicardial coronary arteries is high, only a few studies have evaluated the technique's reliability in assessing coronary artery bypass grafts. The aim of this study was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of multidetector computed tomography...

It is thirty-five years since the initial coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) was performed in Japan in 1970. There was more risk in surgery in the early days, and many efforts have been made to decrease the mortality rate. Since the 1980’s when I was training to be a heart surgeon, surgical outcomes have improved, and the number of surgical cases has been steadily increasing. Since the long-te...

In 45 patients with coronary bypass grafts, the breath-hold interval with and that without preoxygenation was measured. Its effect on depiction of the distal graft anastomosis at electron-beam tomography was evaluated. Preoxygenation prolonged the breath-hold interval in most patients, thereby allowing greater anatomic coverage including more distal anastomoses. Preoxygenation may improve scann...

In the previous issue of Critical Care, Yu and colleagues report increased morbidity and mortality in patients after myocardial infarction undergoing prophylactic intra-aortic balloon pump support before coronary artery bypass graft surgery. The impact of prophylactic intra-aortic balloon pump implantation before coronary artery bypass graft therapy still is controversially debated. However, Yu...

A 42-year-old man had extensive occlusive disease of the coronary artery and angina pectoris. An autogenous saphenous vein bypass from the ascending aorta to the anterior descending coronary artery was performed on Nov 23, 1964. The patient suffered an asymptomatic anterior myocardial infarction during operation but made an uncomplicated recovery. Seven years after the operation, the graft func...

conclusions the authors describe the second reported case of eptifibatide-induced severe thrombocytopenia associated with cardiac surgery. in this case, discontinuation of eptifibatide and transfusion of apheresis platelets increased the platelet count (137 k/ul) the following day, and the patient subsequently underwent successful coronary artery surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass. introducti...

Although coronary artery bypass graft surgery has significant effects on reducing the symptoms of coronary artery disease, there is not enough knowledge and understanding of lived experience of patients after surgery. Understanding lived experience of this group of patients would be helpful for healthcare staff to provide better services to the patients. The aim of this study was to describe wi...

BACKGROUND The incidence of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy after coronary artery bypass graft procedures ranges from 1.3 to 0.25%. The mechanisms of anterior ischemic optic neuropathy after cardiovascular procedures remain undefined but many systemic and related-to-surgery risk factors could underlie anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. In this case, we report a rare presentation of a bilate...

A 42-year-old man had extensive occlusive disease of the coronary artery and angina pectoris. An autogenous saphenous vein bypass from the ascending aorta to the anterior descending coronary artery was performed on Nov 23, 1964. The patient suffered an asymptomatic anterior myocardial infarction during operation but made an uncomplicated recovery. Seven years after the operation, the graft func...

BACKGROUND Aortic distensibility is an elasticity index of the aorta, and reflects aortic stiffness. Coronary artery disease has been found to be substantially associated with increased aortic stiffness. In this study we aimed to retrospectively analyze the association of angiographically determined aortic distensibility with the patency rates of coronary bypass grafts METHODS The study was c...