EARLY RESULTS OF MINIMALLY INVASIVE CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS GRAFTING

Abstract

Abstract Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is the benchmark in elective revascularization for Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), particularly for complex or multivessel CAD, left main coronary involvement, diabetes, or impaired heart function. Traditional CABG, via median sternotomy using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), has limitations like CPB–related morbidity and sternal complications. Alternatives like Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (MICS CABG) and Hybrid Revascularization (HR) aim to address these drawbacks. We present a series of 215 consecutive patients (mean age 67±9 years, 27.9% females, EuroSCORE II 1.5±1.3%) between 2017–2023 who underwent elective minimally invasive surgical revascularization. Among the cohort, 164 (76.3%) had Minimally Invasive Direct Coronary Artery Bypass (MIDCAB) via anterolateral left mini–thoracotomy (ALMT) at the fifth intercostal space (IS), with 140 (85.4%) receiving a single left internal thoracic artery (LITA) graft to the left anterior descending (LAD) artery and 24 (14.6%) an additional distal anastomosis. Thirty–four (20.7%) had HR via percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on the right coronary artery (RCA). Of the total cohort, 35/215 patients (16.3%) underwent multivessel MICS CABG via ALMT, with mean 2.3±0.5 distal anastomoses using LITA, right ITA, radial artery, or saphenous vein. Heart manipulation was via a subxiphoid device. Four MICS CABG patients (11.4%) had HR. More than half of MICS CABG cases were performed with planned peripheral CPB, without cross–clamping the Aorta. Of the total cohort, 16/215 patients (7.4%) received MICS CABG in an endoscopic fashion, using 3D thoracoscopy for LITA and RITA harvesting via bilateral ports in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th IS, employing peripheral CPB and aortic clamping by Chitwood clamp at the second IS, with cardioplegia delivery via a 4 cm right anterior MT. Distal anastomoses were performed via left anterior MT, with easy subxiphoid manipulation of the emptied heart. Transit time flowmetry was used in all cases. Conversion to sternotomy was needed in 3 cases, all were MIDCAB. Thirty–day mortality was 1.4%, median ventilation was 4 [2–5] hours, and Intensive Care Unit–stay was 1 [1–2] days. All patients received graft evaluation via computerized tomography before hospital discharge. Mean follow–up was 2.9±1.9 years (max 5 years), with no deaths and 4 (1.9%) requiring follow–up PCI. MICS CABG is a promising future technique for heart revascularization by dedicated teams.